The Breath of the Earth (L'haleine du sol) from the portfolio Textures from Phenomena (Les Phénomènes)

Jean Dubuffet

1959

A lithograph from Jean Dubuffet’s 1959 portfolio Les Phénomènes in which the artist sought to translate the granular, weathered textures of earth into a monumental printed surface.

A near-square field of densely variegated black-gray marks greets the eye—an almost tactile expanse of scratches, smudges, and subtle tonal bands that reads like eroded soil or worn skin even though it is flat on paper.

Part of Dubuffet’s exploration of texture and ‘art brut,’ this work pushed postwar art toward an emphasis on surface and materiality, showing that printmaking could evoke the tactile, sculptural qualities of everyday matter.

Palette

Exhibitions

Dubuffet: Works on Paper

1986

Dubuffet: Persons and Places

1972

Jean Dubuffet

1962

Painting and Sculpture from the Museum Collection

1940