Footnotes

Provenance
Collection of Hélène Anavi, Paulhiac; her sale, Sotheby's, Paris, 27 March 1984, lot 43
Galerie Jan Krugier, New York
Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva
Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibited
Paris, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Sahara, 13 April - 25 May 1991 (illustrated p. 35)
Luxembourg, Banque Paribas, Un regard sur Jean Dubuffet, 1 December - 16 December 1993, no. 1 (illustrated p. 11)

Literature
Max Loreau, Catalogue des travaux de Jean Dubuffet. Fascicule IV: Roses d'Allah, clowns du désert, Paris, 1967, no. 51 (illustrated p. 40)


Jean Dubuffet, celebrated painter and sculptor, is recognised as the founder of Art Brut or "raw art." He began his artistic career at 41, after working as a wine merchant and serving in the army, leaving a lasting mark on the post-war art scene.

Dismayed by society after World War II, Dubuffet sought untraditional sources of inspiration, particularly non-Western cultures. Beginning in 1947, he made three extended trips to the Sahara, producing works that reflected abstract forms, rough lines, and textures inspired by the desert's rawness. These journeys shaped his artistic vision, grounding his search for expression beyond Western traditions.

In the Sahara, he became fascinated by the desert's simplicity and timelessness, as well as the art of indigenous cultures. Encounters with North African Bedouins—whose way of life emphasised survival, natural connection, and simplicity—deeply influenced him. Their handcrafted tools and art embodied a raw immediacy that paralleled Dubuffet's vision for Art Brut, reinforcing his rejection of Western ideals of beauty, sophistication, and academicism.

Dubuffet's early work set the foundation for his career, defining traits such as rejection of tradition, interest in outsider and non-Western art, experimentation with materials, expressive distortion, and focus on daily life. His radical aesthetic shaped not only his trajectory but also broader movements, influencing Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, and later outsider art.