Jean DubuffetFrench, 1901–1985Supervielle, Large Banner Portrait
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Supervielle, Large Banner Portrait” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Jean Dubuffet had a vast knowledge of classical art and culture, but he sought a new path for his art based outside Western artistic conventions. He became a proponent of art brut (raw art), an anti-aesthetic inspired by the art of children, the mentally ill, prisoners, and those “unscathed by artistic culture, where mimicry plays little or no part.” In his quest for a dynamic, expressive, and authentic style, Dubuffet developed a technique of scratching into thickly impastoed paint surfaces, often mixed with materials from the earth, to produce raw, graffiti-like images. This painting of the poet Jules Supervielle comes from a series of crude portraits of Parisian writers and intellectuals that the artist made from his imagination, depersonalizing and transforming his subjects into caricatures of human types.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1950.1367
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Jean Dubuffet
The whole life1943
Limbour brings Jean Paulhan to his studio
In 1943 his childhood friend, the writer Georges Limbour, took Jean Paulhan to Dubuffet's studio; the artist's work was unknown at that time. Paulhan was impressed and the meeting proved a turning point; in 1944 an important relationship between the two began.
October 1944
First solo show at Galerie René Drouin
Dubuffet's first solo show opened in October 1944 at the Galerie René Drouin in Paris, marking his third attempt to become an established artist.
1945
He begins collecting art brut
In 1945 Dubuffet began to collect art brut, “raw” art close to the work of children, the self-taught and the mentally ill; the collection is now in Lausanne.
1945
Fautrier's show and the thick paste
In 1945 Dubuffet saw a show of Jean Fautrier's paintings in Paris, in which he recognized meaningful art that expressed the depth of a person directly and purely. Emulating Fautrier, he began mixing thick oil paint with mud, sand, coal dust, pebbles, glass, straw, plaster, cement and tar, and made scratches and slashes in the paste.
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.
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.
