Territoires (Phénomènes, no. 7)
Artist: Jean Dubuffet (French, 1901-1985)
Publisher: Jean Dubuffet, [Paris], 1959
Date: 1959
Dimensions:
Box: H: 26 3/16 in. (665 mm); W: 18 9/16 in. (472 mm); Depth: 1 1/8 in. (29 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 25 1/16 in. (637 mm); W: 17 13/16 in. (453 mm).
Leaf (untrimmed): H: 25 1/16 in. (637 mm); W: 17 13/16 in. (452 mm).
Medium: Original prints: 18 lithographs.
Text: letterpress (typeface: Futura).
Paper: Arches cream wove paper, watermarked.
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number: 1984.409
Label Text:From 1958 to 1962, Dubuffet devoted most of his artistic energies to the creation of the The Phenomena (Les Phenomènes) series of lithographs. He established his own lithography workshop on rue de Rennes, Paris, early in 1958, because he needed a print studio for his exclusive use to realize this project. By 1963 Dubuffet had published twenty-two albums in the series: thirteen albums (each containing eighteen prints) were printed in black ink; nine albums (each containing ten prints) were done in color lithography. The Bareiss collection has eleven albums of the series.
Using lithography, Dubuffet's plan was to recreate the appearance of textures found in the realms of geography, geology, physical science, and biological matter. He drew inspiration from soil, sand, stones, and rock, pavement, walls, rusty metal, decaying substances, vegetation, mist, dust - anything with subtleties in pattern and color. His lithography did not depict any texture in particular. Rather, they evoked the appearance of a texture, and the title for each print was inspired by what the image called to mind. The result was an impressive encyclopedia of textures which conveyed some sense of awe for the minute details of the world.
Widely regarded as the most important French artist to emerge at the end of World War II, Jean Dubuffet was famous for promoting “l’Art Brut” (“Brutal Art”). Like the art of children or of the mentally ill, Art Brut looked untutored, full of vitality, and often irresistible in its directness—“art at its purest and crudest,” according to Dubuffet. However, the artist’s contempt for aesthetic and academic conventions did not preclude the creation of (perhaps unintentionally) beautiful works of art, like his series of portfolios of 324 lithographs, Les Phénomènes (The Phenomena), created from 1958 to 1962.
Dubuffet drew inspiration from soil, sand, stones and rock, pavement, walls, rusty metals, decaying substances, vegetation, mist, and dust. He sometimes even mixed actual organic matter with his lithographer’s ink. But the resulting lithographs do not depict any texture in particular. Rather, they evoke the sense of a texture, and the title for each print was prompted by what sensation of mood or effect the image might call to mind. Les Phénomènes is thus an impressive, abstract encyclopedia of sorts, both recording and provoking awe for the world’s minute details and surface patterns.
Other volumes within the series in the Museum's collection: 1984.410-415; color series: 1984.412-419.
Using lithography, Dubuffet's plan was to recreate the appearance of textures found in the realms of geography, geology, physical science, and biological matter. He drew inspiration from soil, sand, stones, and rock, pavement, walls, rusty metal, decaying substances, vegetation, mist, dust - anything with subtleties in pattern and color. His lithography did not depict any texture in particular. Rather, they evoked the appearance of a texture, and the title for each print was inspired by what the image called to mind. The result was an impressive encyclopedia of textures which conveyed some sense of awe for the minute details of the world.
Widely regarded as the most important French artist to emerge at the end of World War II, Jean Dubuffet was famous for promoting “l’Art Brut” (“Brutal Art”). Like the art of children or of the mentally ill, Art Brut looked untutored, full of vitality, and often irresistible in its directness—“art at its purest and crudest,” according to Dubuffet. However, the artist’s contempt for aesthetic and academic conventions did not preclude the creation of (perhaps unintentionally) beautiful works of art, like his series of portfolios of 324 lithographs, Les Phénomènes (The Phenomena), created from 1958 to 1962.
Dubuffet drew inspiration from soil, sand, stones and rock, pavement, walls, rusty metals, decaying substances, vegetation, mist, and dust. He sometimes even mixed actual organic matter with his lithographer’s ink. But the resulting lithographs do not depict any texture in particular. Rather, they evoke the sense of a texture, and the title for each print was prompted by what sensation of mood or effect the image might call to mind. Les Phénomènes is thus an impressive, abstract encyclopedia of sorts, both recording and provoking awe for the world’s minute details and surface patterns.
Other volumes within the series in the Museum's collection: 1984.410-415; color series: 1984.412-419.
Not on view
In Collection(s)