Cyclist with Five Cows

1940–1944

The wine business at Bercy under the German Occupation

During the German Occupation of France Dubuffet developed his wine business at Bercy. Years later, in an autobiographical text, he boasted of having made substantial profits by supplying wine to the Wehrmacht.

1942

He resolves to devote himself to art again

In 1942 Dubuffet decided to devote himself to art again. He drew subjects from everyday life, such as people sitting in the Paris Métro or walking in the country, and painted in strong unbroken colors recalling the palette of Fauvism and the Brücke painters, often placing figures in a very cramped space.

1943

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.