Landscape of the Written Word (Paysage aux Graphies)
Former TitleUntitled
Artist
Jean Dubuffet
(French, 1901 - 1985)
Date1954
MediumIndia ink and newsprint on paper
DimensionsOverall: 23 5/8 × 14 3/8 inches (60.01 × 36.51 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. C. Humbert Tinsman Sr.; Mr. and Mrs. R. Crosby Kemper Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. James L. Miller; and Mr. and Mrs. Herman R. Sutherland
Object numberF72-22
Signedu.l.: "J. Dubuffet 54"
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionIrregularly shaped layers of white paper, upper fourth painted black with small, sparse, unpainted spots; large unpainted, organically shaped area in upper right corner with black spots. Bottom 3/4 sprayed, creating variously a fine mist and drippings of black paint. Pieces from yellowed French newspaper and French words written in black ink over entire surface. Just below center, crude figure of human, formed from bits of newspaper and enveloped in black.Gallery LabelTo compose this work, Jean Dubuffet blotted white paper with ink and then applied torn fragments of printed paper. Dubuffet developed this technique, which he called "imprint assemblage," in 1953. The process of selecting and gluing the fragments took place with no preconceived plan. However, chance combinations would often suggest an association that Dubuffet would develop further. This is visible here in the human figure in the lower central portion of the work.
Copyright© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
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F98-32/181
