Jean Dubuffet and Art Brut: The Retreat into Language and the Psychic Fact

Jean Dubuffet and the Theoretical Framework of Art Brut

• General Context: The artistic period of Jean Dubuffet ($1902-1985$) is characterized by a significant shift in the mid-$20$th century known as "El repliegue sobre el lenguaje" (The retreat into language).
• The Question of the Ugly: Dubuffet fundamentally challenged traditional aesthetic standards, focusing on the "cuesti3n de lo feo" (the issue of the ugly). He rejected academic beauty in favor of a raw, unrefined aesthetic that prioritizes emotional and psychological resonance over formal perfection.
• Painting as a Psychic Fact: Painting is redefined not as a decorative act or a representation of reality, but as an "hecho ps3quico" (psychic fact). This perspective suggests that the artwork is a direct externalization of the artist's internal psychological state.
• Definition of Art Brut: Dubuffet was the primary proponent of "Arte Bruto" (Art Brut or Raw Art). This refers to art created outside the professional and academic art world—specifically by individuals such as psychiatric patients, prisoners, and children who operate without regard for traditional cultural conventions or expectations.

Technical Analysis of Materiality and Form

• Substance and Texture: The artwork is frequently characterized by a "sustancia mate y porosa de gres" (matte and porous stoneware substance).
• Construction: The works feature "forma espesa" (thick form) with "altos relieves" (high reliefs) and "profundos surcos hundidos" (deep sunken furrows), creating a tactile, sculptural surface.
• Chromatic Palette:     * The primary range consists of "marrones como los que se encuentran en los gres naturales" (browns like those found in natural stoneware).     * These earthy tones are animated by strokes of vibrant dyes, specifically "azul a1il" (indigo blue) and "rojo carm3n" (carmine red).
• Background Composition: The backgrounds often utilize "marr3n sombr3o y negro sucio" (somber brown and dirty black).
• Metaphorical Attributes: The visual quality of the background is explicitly compared to the "residuos que recubren con el tiempo el tiro de las chimeneas" (residue that covers chimney flues over time/soot).

Chronological Catalog of Key Works ($1922-1985$)

• Early Works ($1922-1925$):     * Naturaleza muerta con piedras sobre una silla de ca1a (Still life with stones on a cane chair), $1922-1923$.     * Deliberando sobre la manzana roja (Deliberating on the red apple), $1924-1925$.
• The Transition to Raw Expression ($1935-1944$):     * Drawings marked "8.D. $1935$" and "J.D. $1935$" signify early stylistic experiments.     * Desnudo colorido (Colorfully nude), $1943$.     * Negocio de alto nivel (High-level business), $1944$. This work incorporates textual elements such as "MENSUE", "TRESORER", "A vos ordres", "snow", "F", "mars 44", and "Compte de Commissions!".
• Portraits and Figures ($1945-1947$):     * Retrato de grasa (Portrait of grease/fat), $1945$.     * Superviejo (Super-old), $1945$.     * Miss Cholera, $1946$.     * L3autaud, Redskin-Sorcerer, November $1946$ (housed in MoMA).     * Dh3tel te1ido de albaricoque (Dh3tel tinged with apricot), $1947$.     * Pierre Matisse, portrait obscur, $1947$.
• Mid-Career and Mature Style ($1954-1964$):     * El hermoso cuerno (The beautiful horn), $1954$.     * L’Hourloupe Cycle, inaugurated around $1964$. These works often feature cells of blue, white, and red. Some incorporate urban signage and text such as "SPECIAL", "VINS", "CHARBONS", "PHARMA CIE", "GORGERETTE", "DOUX AVE", "PREMIER AMOUR", "POSTICHES", and "JEUNESSE".
• Late Career and Memorized Sites ($1975-1978$):     * Sitio memorizado (Memorized site), $1975$, acrylic on paper (Guggenheim Bilbao).     * Teatros de la memoria (Theaters of memory), marked "JiDi $78$" ($1978$).

Comprehensive Bibliography and Academic Sources

• General History and Abstracts:     * Blok, C., Historia del Arte Abstracto ($1900-1960$), Cuadernos de Arte C3tedra, Madrid, $1982$.     * VVAA, Informalismo y Expresionismo Abstracto, IVAM, Valencia, $1995$.
• Monographs on Jean Dubuffet:     * Dubuffet, J., Biograf3a a paso de carga, Madrid, S3ntesis, $2004$.     * Dubuffet, J., Escritos sobre Arte, Barral Editores, Barcelona, $1975$.     * L3pez Bl3zquez, M., Dubuffet, Grandes Pintores del Siglo XX, Globos, Barcelona, $1996$.
• Studies on Art Brut and Outsider Art:     * Cardinal, R., Outsiders: An Art Without Precedent or Tradition, Hay Ward Gallery, London, $1979$.     * Maizels, J., Raw Creation: Outsider Art and Beyond, Phaidon Press Limited, London, $1996$.     * Peiry, L., L'Art Brut, Skira Flammarion, Geneva, $1981$.     * Th3voz, M., L’Art Brut, Flammarion, Paris, $1997$.     * VVAA, Nueva invenci3n: colecci3n de arte bruto Lausana, Museo de Navarra, Granada, $1996$.
• Historical Context:     * Garc3a Felguera, El arte despu3s de Auschwitz, Historia $16$, Madrid, [Reference incomplete].