"Perhaps I’m not alone in loving the ground," wrote Dubuffet in 1959. "Where do our eyes roam during the immense stretches of time when we do not control them?" Though known for his coarsely executed figures, Dubuffet could also veer toward abstraction, which is especially evident in his landscapes. This work prefigures a series of nearly abstract "Texturologies" and "Materiologies" of the late 1950s that explore the texture and expanse of earth and pavement. The mottled surface of this work recalls the artist’s love of material, roughness, and irregularity. He hoped that these works would "furnish nourishment" for anyone who, like him, was "enamored of empty and deserted spaces."
