French
b. 1901, Le Havre, France —
d. 1985, Paris, France

Jean DuBuffet is known for artworks from a succession of phases, such as paintings executed with thick impasto, imprint assemblages and painting assemblages,  He spent much time from 1962-74 preoccupied with an extensive series called Hourloupe, including not only paintings but painted sculptures and three-dimensional works in polyester resin or epoxy.

DuBuffet’s Hourloupe style developed from a chance doodle while he was on the telephone. The basis of it was a tangle of clean black lines that forms cells that are sometimes filled with unmixed color. He believed the style evoked the manner in which objects appear in the mind.

Fascinated at some point with Hans Prinzhorn's book Artistry of the Mentally Ill, on psychopathic art. DuBuffet began collecting Art Brut, spontaneous, direct works by untutored individuals, such as the mentally ill and children. He emulated this directly expressive, untutored style in his own work. He additionally founded the organization Compagnie de l'Art Brut (1948–51) together with writers, critics, and dealers from Dada and Surrealist circles.

Beginning in the late 1960’s with several large sculptures of black-and-white painted fiberglass for various public spaces, Jean DuBuffet produced numerous monumental outdoor commissions. The first one was placed in 1969 at One Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York, NY. Other works have been located at the Seagram Building on Park Avenue, New York, NY;  the James R. Thompson Center,  Chicago, IL;  4 Embarcadero Center, Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco. CA; Discovery Green, Houston, TX; and Le Reseda, Paris, France.

In his lifetime Jean DuBuffet was the subject of twelve major museum retrospectives including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Tate Gallery, London; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Montreal; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Jean DuBuffet’s artworks are collected internationally.