"Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet" at the Folk Art Museum in New York City reveals one of the earliest collection of art brut. Toted as the first major U.S. exhibition to explore the introduction of art brut to America, the exhibition presents around 160 works by 35 artists amassed and identified as art brut by French artist Jean Dubuffet. Dubuffet (1901 - 1985) first started collecting works by untrained and unconventional art makers in 1945 and coined the phrase, art brut, more commonly known now as Outsider Art. The show remains on view through January 10, 2016.
Art Brut's introduction to America arrived in December 1951 in the form of a controversial speech given by Dubuffet titled “Anticultural Positions” at the Arts Club of Chicago, which challenged established ideas about art analysis and modes of creation. Shortly afterwards, Dubuffet moved his collection to The Creeks, the East Hampton estate of Alfonso Ossorio, until Dubuffet requested the collection's return to Paris in 1962.
Ossorio was from a wealthy Filipino family and was an art collector and self-taught artist. The Creeks was famous for its eccentric interior and exterior designs, revealed publicly through the parties hosted by Ossorio. The art connection between Dubuffet and Ossorio was explored in the 2013 exhibition "Angels, Demons & Savages: Pollock, Ossorio & Dubuffet" at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, N.Y. The show was reviewed by Gabrielle Selz for Hamptons Art Hub. Click here to read.
By using this time period as springboard, "Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet" at the Folk Art Museum in New York City highlights Dubuffet’s passionate belief in a new art paradigm that was non-Western and non-hierarchical and championed makers of art who are “...uncontaminated by artistic culture,” according to the Folk Art Museum.
The exhibition is drawn exclusively from the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland, where Dubuffet donated his extensive collection in 1971. Most of the works in "Art Brut in America" were installed at Ossorio's estate, according to a review by Roberta Smith for The New York Times.
"Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet" is presented in collaboration with the Collection de l’Art Brut. It is curated by Valérie Rousseau, PhD, Curator, Self-Taught Art and Art Brut, American Folk Art Museum. An exhibition catalog is available. It remains on view through January 10, 2016.
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"Untitled" by Heinrich Anton Müller (1869–1930), c. 1927–1929. Colored pencil on drawing paper, 22 5/8 x 16 3/4 inches. Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo © Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, by Claude Bornand.
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"Untitled" by Francis Palanc (1928-2015), 1953. Finely ground eggshells on canvas, 31 1/2 x 23 1/4 inches. Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo © Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, by Henri Germond.
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"Petit dossier nº 10 (Little folder no. 10)" by Jeanne Tripier (1869–1944), c. 1935–1939. Ink, varnish, and sugar on paper, page size between 8 5/8 x 6 3/4 inches and 13 5/8 x 8 5/8 inches. Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo © Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, by Jean-Marie Almonte and Michael Legentil, Atelier de numérisation—Ville de Lausanne.
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BASIC FACTS: "Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet" remains on view through January 10, 2016. The American Folk Art Museum is located at 2 Lincoln Square, New York, NY 10023. www.folkartmuseum.org.
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