JEAN DUBUFFET (1901-1985)

L'INCONSISTANT

Details

JEAN DUBUFFET (1901-1985)
L'INCONSISTANT
SIGNED AND DATED 'J. DUBUFFET 59' (UPPER LEFT); SIGNED, TITLED AND DATED 'L'INCONSISTANT SEPT 59 J. DUBUFFET' (ON THE REVERSE)
OIL ON CANVAS
45 3/4 X 35IN. (116.2 X 89CM.)
PAINTED IN SEPTEMBER 1959

Provenance

PACE GALLERY, NEW YORK

Literature

CATALOGUE DES TRAVAUX DE JEAN DUBUFFET, FASC. XVII, MATéRIOLOGIES, PARIS 1970, NO. 57 (ILLUSTRATED P. 55).
A. FRANZKE, DUBUFFET, NEW YORK 1981, (ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR P. 135).
M. GLIMSCHER & J. DUBUFFET, JEAN DUBUFFET, TOWARDS AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY, NEW YORK 1987 (ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR P. 171).

Exhibited

LONDON, THE TATE GALLERY, JEAN DUBUFFET: PAINTINGS, APRIL-MAY 1966, NO. 97 (ILLUSTRATED P. 52).
NEW YORK, THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, JEAN DUBUFFET: A RETROSPECTIVE, APRIL-JULY 1973, NO. 105 (ILLUSTRATED P. 138). THIS EXHIBITION LATER TRAVELLED TO PARIS, GRAND PALAIS, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1973.
BERLIN, AKADEMIE DER KNSTE, DUBUFFET RETROSPEKTIVE, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1980, NO. 185 (ILLUSTRATED P. 352). THIS EXHIBITION LATER TRAVELLED TO VIENNA, MUSEUM MODERNER KUNST, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1980 AND COLOGNE, JOSEPH HAUBRICH KUNSTHALLE, FEBRUARY-MARCH 1981.
PARIS, GALLERY URBAN, JEAN DUBUFFET: DES ANNéES 50 AUX ANNéES 80, OCTOBER 1990.

Lot Essay

EXECUTED IN SEPTEMBER 1959 "L'INCONSISTANT" BELONGS TO A SMALL SERIES OF WORKS THAT PORTRAY PHANTOM FIGURES OR SPIRITS THROUGH A CAREFUL MANIPULATION OF CONTRASTING TEXTURE. DUBUFFET CONCEIVED THESE PHANTOM FIGURES THROUGH FORMS THAT CAME ABOUT WHILE HE WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH A NEW TECHNIQUE OF LAYERING A LIGHT GLAZE OVER AND BETWEEN A HEAVIER PAINTED BACKGROUND. THE LIGHTNESS OF THE GLAZE HAS BEEN SPREAD TO FORM THE OUTLINE OF THE PHANTOM-LIKE FIGURE AND THE APPARENT RANDOMNESS OF THIS OUTLINE IS CONTRASTED WITH THE HEAVIER MATERIALITY OF THE PAINT TO CREATE AN ELUSIVE AND SHIMMERING FORM THAT SEEMS TO VIBRATE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE MATERIAL AS WELL AS TO REPRESENT THIS SPIRIT IN A HUMAN-LIKE FORM.

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