Letter from El Goléa

1946

Pierre Matisse's New York show: success in America

Dubuffet was included in the Pierre Matisse Gallery exhibition in New York alongside Picasso, Braque and Rouault, one of only two young artists so honored. Clement Greenberg wrote positively about his three canvases, and Newsweek dubbed him the darling of Parisian avant-garde circles.

1946

The “Hautes Pâtes” show at Galerie René Drouin

At his second major exhibition, “Microbolus Macadam & Cie / Hautes Pâtes”, at the Galerie René Drouin, Dubuffet showed his “Thick Impastoes” series. His crude materials and irony drew fierce criticism; he was accused of “anarchy” and of “scraping the dustbin”.

1947

First solo exhibition in America

In 1947 Dubuffet had his first solo exhibition in America, at the same Pierre Matisse Gallery. Reviews were largely favorable, and he went on to exhibit there at least once a year.

1947–1949

Three trips to Algeria

Between 1947 and 1949 Dubuffet made three trips to Algeria, then a French colony, in search of further artistic inspiration. He was fascinated by the nomadic tribes and the ephemeral quality of their existence, which became a facet of art brut.

June 1948

The Compagnie de l'art brut is founded

In June 1948 Dubuffet, together with Jean Paulhan, André Breton, Charles Ratton, Michel Tapié and Henri-Pierre Roché, officially established La Compagnie de l'art brut in Paris, dedicated to the discovery, documentation and exhibition of art brut. He later amassed his own collection, including works by Aloïse Corbaz and Adolf Wölfli.

1949–1950

Americans in Paris: Ossorio and Glasco

At the end of 1949, while Pierre Matisse was preparing Dubuffet's January 1950 show, Alfonso Ossorio travelled to Paris to meet him and buy some of his paintings. In 1950, at Ossorio's urging, his young friend Joseph Glasco left New York for Paris to meet Dubuffet, and credited the encounter as an influence on his own art.