Dubuffet, Jean << dyoo byoo FEH, zhahn >> (1901-1985), was a French artist known for the primitive style of his works. Dubuffet’s style draws its chief inspiration from crude wall drawings called graffiti and the art produced by children, insane people, and primitive cultures. His painting Business Prospers (1961), is typical of his style.
Dubuffet was extremely interested in the materials used in painting. In many of his pictures, he used unusual combinations of substances such as sand, gravel, cement, glue, and tar to achieve especially rough textures. For example, he used plant leaves to create The Gardener. He produced other works by cutting up painted canvases and reassembling the pieces. Dubuffet often used simple or crude images to shock people who were used to beautiful pictures.
Dubuffet was born on July 31, 1901, in Le Havre. He studied art as a young man but worked as a winemaker until he seriously devoted himself to art in 1942. He helped bring the return of recognizable subject matter to painting at a time when abstract art was popular. He died on May 12, 1985.
