Beard Garden
A champion of what he called "Art Brut," or "raw art," Dubuffet sought liberation from conventional fine art techniques through the adoption of a rough-hewn, untutored style and the use of unconventional materials. The artist experimented with various surface textures to create the masses of hair that dominate his fantastical, humorous Beard series of 1959, which was inspired by a friend’s likening of Dubuffet to a Stoic or sage. For Beard Garden, the artist tore and reassembled printed paper to fashion an animated expanse of tangled hair that is in lively contrast with its impassive bearer.
Artwork Details
- Title: Beard Garden
- Artist: Jean Dubuffet (French, Le Havre 1901–1985 Paris)
- Date: 1959
- Medium: Collage of matte black paint and torn papers on paper
- Dimensions: 20 1/8 × 13 3/8 in. (51.1 × 34 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, 2002
- Object Number: 2002.456.29
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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