Lot Essay
In 1954, after an extremely productive painting phase, Dubuffet set out to discover more innovative techniques and means in the realms of three-dimensional expression.
Initial experiments in sculpture medium were limited to very simple manipulations, most of which required no particular technical experience or skill. Dubuffet's underlying idea was to combine found objects (e.g. cinders, sponges, charcoal, and roots) in such a way as to produce a compelling figurative statement. As they lacked the classical poise of traditional sculpture, the artist christened the series Petites statues de la vie précaire (Small statues of Precarious Life)
Dubuffet let his imagery spring directly from the raw materials, without altering or obscuring their identity. This factor is obvious in Foutriquet, dated 1954-58, loosely assembled from sponge fragments.
In the "Petites Statues" series, the artist avoided creating the impression of solidity and substantiality. No wonder then that among this series, Dubuffet considered the natural sponge pieces the most important. These, the artist said, were most clearly expressive of an "extreme precariousness and immateriality." To obtain the greatest possible immediacy and impact, moreover, he equipped his busts and figures with absurdly huge heads. Breaking every rule of proportion they form the true centre of interest in such expressive pieces as Foutriquet.
Dubuffet's passionate and lifelong commitment to what he called "Art Brut", that wide range of artistic expression on the part of people outside the cultural process, is well known. In works of this type, he saw creative expression in its primal state, liberated from the bonds of traditional conventions.
Dubuffet wrote essays on this art of untaught laymen and the mentally ill, and it coloured his own views and provided an important source of inspiration; even more, it represented an unattainable ideal that determined his artistic aims.
Dubuffet also collected "Art Brut" sculptures, which employ such truly odd materials as birchbark, cork, silex, charcoal, and fabric, similar to those substances he later used for his own sculptures. In an essay on the self-taught "Art Brut" artist Joaquim Vicens Gironella, Dubuffet described the technique of Gironella's cork sculptures, a few of which he owned. Pointing out how the artist let himself be inspired by the material, Dubuffet wrote that "...he mistreated his piece of cork, slitting it, hacking and tearing it open with sharp knives, and forcing the material to assume highly divergent aspects, giving it a dishevelled or scarred look, riddled with cavities like sponges or cinders."
This mention of sponges and cinders as materials suited to sculpture, is highly revealing, especially as it was long before Dubuffet even began working in this medium. Banal and worthless, he considered these amorphous substances ideal for the making of works that would transcend the context of conventional art.
Initial experiments in sculpture medium were limited to very simple manipulations, most of which required no particular technical experience or skill. Dubuffet's underlying idea was to combine found objects (e.g. cinders, sponges, charcoal, and roots) in such a way as to produce a compelling figurative statement. As they lacked the classical poise of traditional sculpture, the artist christened the series Petites statues de la vie précaire (Small statues of Precarious Life)
Dubuffet let his imagery spring directly from the raw materials, without altering or obscuring their identity. This factor is obvious in Foutriquet, dated 1954-58, loosely assembled from sponge fragments.
In the "Petites Statues" series, the artist avoided creating the impression of solidity and substantiality. No wonder then that among this series, Dubuffet considered the natural sponge pieces the most important. These, the artist said, were most clearly expressive of an "extreme precariousness and immateriality." To obtain the greatest possible immediacy and impact, moreover, he equipped his busts and figures with absurdly huge heads. Breaking every rule of proportion they form the true centre of interest in such expressive pieces as Foutriquet.
Dubuffet's passionate and lifelong commitment to what he called "Art Brut", that wide range of artistic expression on the part of people outside the cultural process, is well known. In works of this type, he saw creative expression in its primal state, liberated from the bonds of traditional conventions.
Dubuffet wrote essays on this art of untaught laymen and the mentally ill, and it coloured his own views and provided an important source of inspiration; even more, it represented an unattainable ideal that determined his artistic aims.
Dubuffet also collected "Art Brut" sculptures, which employ such truly odd materials as birchbark, cork, silex, charcoal, and fabric, similar to those substances he later used for his own sculptures. In an essay on the self-taught "Art Brut" artist Joaquim Vicens Gironella, Dubuffet described the technique of Gironella's cork sculptures, a few of which he owned. Pointing out how the artist let himself be inspired by the material, Dubuffet wrote that "...he mistreated his piece of cork, slitting it, hacking and tearing it open with sharp knives, and forcing the material to assume highly divergent aspects, giving it a dishevelled or scarred look, riddled with cavities like sponges or cinders."
This mention of sponges and cinders as materials suited to sculpture, is highly revealing, especially as it was long before Dubuffet even began working in this medium. Banal and worthless, he considered these amorphous substances ideal for the making of works that would transcend the context of conventional art.