Homme abstrait 1961

This striking original 1961 exhibition poster was created by Jean Dubuffet himself to promote his major retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. A powerful example of Dubuffet's graphic sensibility, it not only advertised the exhibition but also embodied the very spirit of the artist’s radical vision.

At the center of the poster is one of Dubuffet's unmistakable figures—raw, textured, and primitive—rendered in earthy tones with frenetic, scribbled outlines. The background is equally energetic, filled with abstract patterns that evoke both decay and vitality. The figure’s naïve form and expressive distortion echo Dubuffet’s lifelong pursuit of Art Brut, a concept he championed to describe art made outside the boundaries of traditional culture—instinctive, childlike, and unfiltered by academic conventions.

The bold orange signature, scrawled across the bottom, reinforces the artist’s disruptive approach—assertive, direct, and unmistakably modern. The stark black border and elegant serif typography of the museum’s name contrast intentionally with the anarchic imagery, reminding viewers that what’s inside the museum walls was, at this moment, anything but classical.

Printed for the exhibition held from December 1960 to February 1961, this poster now stands as an iconic artifact of mid-century modernism and the post-war avant-garde in France.

Exposition - Dada - Surréalisme

Museum of Decorative Arts - Palais du Louvre

Très bon état