Jean Dubuffet
Site Philosophique, 1974
vinyl on canvas
203 x 130 cm
79 7/8 x 51 1/8 in
79 7/8 x 51 1/8 in
Copyright The Artist
Composed in 1974, Site philosophique is an exemplary mature work in Jean Dubuffet's paradigm-shifting Hourloupe series. One of the longest and most celebrated cycles of the artist's career, the Hourloupe...
Composed in 1974, Site philosophique is an exemplary mature work in Jean Dubuffet's paradigm-shifting Hourloupe series.
One of the longest and most celebrated cycles of the artist's career, the Hourloupe paintings were first conceived in the
summer of 1962 when, while talking on the phone, Dubuffet absentmindedly produced a flowing red and blue ballpoint pen
drawing on paper with his free hand while the other held the phone. Thus was born what is arguably the most recognized and
acclaimed visual dialect of the Art Brut pioneer.
Just as the human figures in Paris Circus areprogressively enveloped by irresistible bursts of color, the biomorphic forms of Site Philosophique revel in the pure twodimensionality of the picture plane. Reminiscent of Dubuffet's predecessor
Fernand Léger's vibrant visual syntax with its exuberant forms and richly saturated palette, Site philosophique is a joyful
expression of boundless impulses and liberated thought.
In the Hourloupe series, by reducing his palette to red, white, and blue on a black background, Dubuffet pays homage to his
homeland and sums up the quality of his work that has marked his career: an ineffable beauty achieved through simple means and forms. With a sense of perpetual evolution and mutual communication, multiple visual motifs combine in Site Philosophique to evoke the wanderings of the unconscious and the triumph of chaos over order.
Hourloupe is widely regarded as the most enduring series in Dubuffet's oeuvre. Drawing on the precepts of Art Brut, which
sought to elevate the strange, the outcast and the foreign above the academic methods and norms of the art world, Site
Philosophique perfectly encapsulates the artist's unique and captivating pictorial syntax. Dubuffet's neologism "hourloupe"
recalls both the French verbs "hurler" and "hululer", as well as the word "wolf." But it is precisely the sound of the word that most appealed to the artist. This Site Philosophique, with its boundless energy, is an example of the vitality, jubilation and
spontaneity of Dubuffet's mature style.
One of the longest and most celebrated cycles of the artist's career, the Hourloupe paintings were first conceived in the
summer of 1962 when, while talking on the phone, Dubuffet absentmindedly produced a flowing red and blue ballpoint pen
drawing on paper with his free hand while the other held the phone. Thus was born what is arguably the most recognized and
acclaimed visual dialect of the Art Brut pioneer.
Just as the human figures in Paris Circus areprogressively enveloped by irresistible bursts of color, the biomorphic forms of Site Philosophique revel in the pure twodimensionality of the picture plane. Reminiscent of Dubuffet's predecessor
Fernand Léger's vibrant visual syntax with its exuberant forms and richly saturated palette, Site philosophique is a joyful
expression of boundless impulses and liberated thought.
In the Hourloupe series, by reducing his palette to red, white, and blue on a black background, Dubuffet pays homage to his
homeland and sums up the quality of his work that has marked his career: an ineffable beauty achieved through simple means and forms. With a sense of perpetual evolution and mutual communication, multiple visual motifs combine in Site Philosophique to evoke the wanderings of the unconscious and the triumph of chaos over order.
Hourloupe is widely regarded as the most enduring series in Dubuffet's oeuvre. Drawing on the precepts of Art Brut, which
sought to elevate the strange, the outcast and the foreign above the academic methods and norms of the art world, Site
Philosophique perfectly encapsulates the artist's unique and captivating pictorial syntax. Dubuffet's neologism "hourloupe"
recalls both the French verbs "hurler" and "hululer", as well as the word "wolf." But it is precisely the sound of the word that most appealed to the artist. This Site Philosophique, with its boundless energy, is an example of the vitality, jubilation and
spontaneity of Dubuffet's mature style.
Provenance
Galerie Beyeler, Bâle, 1975Waddington Galleries, London, 1977
Salander-O’Reilly Gallery, New York
Private collection, c. 2000
Private collection, Paris
Exhibitions
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Jean Dubuffet : Paysages castillans, Sites tricolores, April - May 1975Waddington Galleries, London, Jean Dubuffet : paintings 1974, October - November 1975
Literature
Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Dubuffet : Paysages castillans, Sites tricolores, 1975, Paris, Basel, no. 24, n. p., listedExhibition Catalogue, Jean Dubuffet : paintings 1974, 1975, London, n. p., listed
Max Loreau, Catalogue des travaux de Jean Dubuffet, fascicule XXVIII: Roman burlesque, Sites tricolores, Paris, 1979, no. 181b, p. 134, illustrated
Join our mailing list
* denotes required fields
In order to respond to your enquiry, we will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google: Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.