拍品专文
"I feel that a work of art should be wreathed in surprise, that it should present an appearance that we have never seen before, that it should disorient you powerfully and transport you to an altogether unexpected world" (Jean Dubuffet, quoted in Nine unpublished notes dated Vence, 5 Decembre 1960 Jean Dubuffet, Valerie da Costa, Fabrice Hergott, Barcelona, 2006, p.147).
Surprise and disorientation are exactly what Jean Dubuffet has accomplished in Bouteille, assiette, cafetière et tasse. A stunning example of Dubuffet's most well known series, L'Hourloupe, this painting highlights the artist's ability to transcend the boundaries of words and definitions. Dubuffet passed through many different styles and phases of painting during his career, but he devoted the most time, twelve years, to the L'Hourloupe series which began almost accidentally. This series took shape almost accidentally through the artist's intuitive doodles made while speaking on the telephone.
This playful and imaginative painting-comprising of red, white and blue shapes outlined by thick, black lines allows Dubuffet to portray an alternate vision of the world and the otherwise banal objects within it. He combined imagination and creativity with authenticity and actuality to find a middle ground between the worlds of abstraction and reality. From the start of his career Dubuffet was fascinated by the idea of breaking away from the constraints and conformity that society sets upon a person. He believed in looking to the subconscious and the untainted mind to find art and expression. As he said, "We want art.to be as far as possible, novel and unexpected. We also want it to be highly imaginative" (Jean Dubuffet, in text written in February 1967 Jean Dubuffet, Valerie da Costa, Fabrice Hergott, Barcelona, 2006, p. 106).
In Bouteille, assiette, cafetière et tasse we can see that Dubuffet did indeed succeed in creating unexpected and imaginative art. His application of organic shapes, pure color, spontaneous line and originality allowed him to use painting as a language that reaches beyond the boundaries of the spoken or printed word. Through his art Dubuffet encourages his viewer to step back and use imagination to see the objects he is trying to portray, thus allowing him to connect to the viewer's subconscious mind rather than to the viewer's state of reason. This is just what he was trying to accomplish with the L'Hourloupe series, for he believed that "painting is a much more immediate language and much more direct, than the language of words: much closer to the cry, or to the dance. That is why painting is a way of expression of our inner voices much more effective than that of wordsPainting allowsone to express the various stages of thought, including the deeper levels, the underground stages of mental processes" (Jean Dubuffet, quoted at the Arts Club in Chicago on 20 December 1951 Jean Dubuffet, Valerie da Costa, Fabrice Hergott, Barcelona, 2006, p. 119).
At first glance one would never think to see a bottle, plate, coffee maker and a cup in this painting. However, if one can allow for the suspension of disbelief, not only might he see these objects but he will see anything else his imagination might allow, just as Jean Dubuffet intended.
Surprise and disorientation are exactly what Jean Dubuffet has accomplished in Bouteille, assiette, cafetière et tasse. A stunning example of Dubuffet's most well known series, L'Hourloupe, this painting highlights the artist's ability to transcend the boundaries of words and definitions. Dubuffet passed through many different styles and phases of painting during his career, but he devoted the most time, twelve years, to the L'Hourloupe series which began almost accidentally. This series took shape almost accidentally through the artist's intuitive doodles made while speaking on the telephone.
This playful and imaginative painting-comprising of red, white and blue shapes outlined by thick, black lines allows Dubuffet to portray an alternate vision of the world and the otherwise banal objects within it. He combined imagination and creativity with authenticity and actuality to find a middle ground between the worlds of abstraction and reality. From the start of his career Dubuffet was fascinated by the idea of breaking away from the constraints and conformity that society sets upon a person. He believed in looking to the subconscious and the untainted mind to find art and expression. As he said, "We want art.to be as far as possible, novel and unexpected. We also want it to be highly imaginative" (Jean Dubuffet, in text written in February 1967 Jean Dubuffet, Valerie da Costa, Fabrice Hergott, Barcelona, 2006, p. 106).
In Bouteille, assiette, cafetière et tasse we can see that Dubuffet did indeed succeed in creating unexpected and imaginative art. His application of organic shapes, pure color, spontaneous line and originality allowed him to use painting as a language that reaches beyond the boundaries of the spoken or printed word. Through his art Dubuffet encourages his viewer to step back and use imagination to see the objects he is trying to portray, thus allowing him to connect to the viewer's subconscious mind rather than to the viewer's state of reason. This is just what he was trying to accomplish with the L'Hourloupe series, for he believed that "painting is a much more immediate language and much more direct, than the language of words: much closer to the cry, or to the dance. That is why painting is a way of expression of our inner voices much more effective than that of wordsPainting allowsone to express the various stages of thought, including the deeper levels, the underground stages of mental processes" (Jean Dubuffet, quoted at the Arts Club in Chicago on 20 December 1951 Jean Dubuffet, Valerie da Costa, Fabrice Hergott, Barcelona, 2006, p. 119).
At first glance one would never think to see a bottle, plate, coffee maker and a cup in this painting. However, if one can allow for the suspension of disbelief, not only might he see these objects but he will see anything else his imagination might allow, just as Jean Dubuffet intended.