- 126
Jean Dubuffet
Description
- Jean Dubuffet
- Le Béret Rose
signed and dated 56; signed, titled and dated août 56 on the reverse
- oil and canvas collage on canvas
- 87.5 by 61.3cm.; 34½ by 24 1/8 in.
Provenance
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1960
Exhibited
Literature
Max Loreau, Catalogue des Travaux de Jean Dubuffet, fasc. XII: Tableaux d'Assemblages, Lausanne 1969, p. 61, no. 62, illustrated
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Le Béret Rose is a wonderfully moving and lyrical evocation of Jean Dubuffet's obsession with experimentation; having moved from free association drawing through paper collage the artist arrived at the concept of using pre-painted canvas collage in November 1955 for which he coined the term Tableaux d'Assemblages. By cutting the canvas directly he negated the need for pencil drawing and allowed the scissors to dictate the realisation of the composition, often solely by intuition. Once he had created these distinct elements, the process of over-layering on the canvas created an ethereal tissue of representation defined by the emergence of unexpected juxtapositions of colour and texture. In concert with this, by cutting the canvas straight from the roll he allowed himself even greater freedom to experiment with composition, free from the fear of compromising the rest of the painting irretrievably with one false move. These simple yet evocative developments in the Tableaux d'Assemblages series are indicative of the artist's greatest achievements in innovation, as he himself related: "I can say with complete assurance that for anyone who might consider this method as at least a factor of improvisation and experimentation, as a spur to imagination, as a gymnastic exercise to free painting from inherited conventions and inhibiting prejudices, as a stimulant to inventiveness in every domain (subjects, composition, drawing, colouring) or at least as a preliminary means towards the realisation of future paintings that would not even resort to this method - it is extremely exciting and fruitful" (The artist quoted in Exhibition Catalogue, New York, M.O.M.A., The Work of Jean Dubuffet, 1980)