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Dubuffet & MirĂ³: A Dialogue

October 29 - December 19, 2009

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Dactylographe, 25 Octobe...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Dactylographe, 25 October 1944

Lithograph on Auvergne paper

12 3/4 x 10 inches; 32.4 x 25.4 cm

Frame dimensions: 18 7/8 x 15 inches; 47.9 x 38.1 cm

Signed and inscribed in the stone lower left: "J.D. 25 x 44/ à Georges Limbour" Signed lower right in pencil: "J. Dubuffet 9/10"

Matière et Mémoire plate XVIII

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) La supplice du té...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

La supplice du téléphone, 17 November 1944

Lithograph on Auvergne paper

13 x 9 7/8 inches; 33 x 25.1 cm

Frame dimensions: 18 7/8 x 15 inches; 47.9 x 38.1 cm

Signed lower right in pencil: "J. Dubuffet 10/10"

Matière et Mémoire plate XXX

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) L'homme au feutre mo...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

L'homme au feutre mou, January 1951

Oil on hardboard

28 3/4 x 23 5/8 inches; 73 x 60 cm

Signed and dated, upper right: "J. Dubuffet 51"

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Mouleuse de café,...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Mouleuse de café, 18 November 1944

Lithograph on Auvergne paper

12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches; 32.4 x 24.8 cm

Frame dimensions: 18 7/8 x 15 inches; 47.9 x 38.1 cm

Signed and inscribed in the stone upper left: "à F. Ponge J. D./18x144"

Signed lower right in pencil: "J. Dubuffet 9/10"

Matière et Mémoire plate XXXII

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Payson sautant sur son p...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Payson sautant sur son petit arpent, May 1947

Oil on canvas

51 1/4 x 38 1/8 inches; 130.2 x 96.8 cm

Frame dimensions: 62 x 49 x 3 inches 157.5 x 124.5 x 7.6 cm

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Personnage tireur de lan...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Personnage tireur de langue avec écriture, June 1960

Pen and India ink on paper

12 5/8 x 9 7/8 inches; 32.1 x 25.1 cm

Frame dimensions: 23 1/8 x 19 7/8 inches; 58.7 x 50.5 cm

Signed and dated: "J.D. Juin 60"

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Présence lé...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Présence légère (tête de face, couleur vieux bois de noyer ciré), February 1951

Oil on canvas

21 3/4 x 18 1/8 inches; 55.2 x 46 cm

Frame dimensions: 30 3/8 x 26 1/2 inches; 77.2 x 67.3 cm

Signed and dated, lower left: "J. Dubuffet 51" Titled, signed and dated, verso: "Présence légère J. Dubuffet Fév. 51"

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Site avec 3 personnages,...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Site avec 3 personnages, 20 mai 1981

Acrylic on paper mounted on linen

19 5/8 x 26 3/8 inches; 49.8 x 67 cm

Signed and dated, lower right: "J.D. 81"

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) Trois personnages (D 98)...

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985)

Trois personnages (D 98), 7 January 1962

Drawing and India ink wash

16 x 12 3/4 inches; 40.6 x 32.4 cm

Frame dimensions: 24 3/4 x 21 1/8 inches; 62.9 x 53.7 cm

Initialed and dated: "J.D. 62"

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Deux femmes dans la n...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Deux femmes dans la nuit

14 x 13 inches; 35.6 x 33 cm

Frame dimensions: 20 1/8 x 19 1/8 inches; 51.1 x 48.6 cm

Signed, lower right: "Miró"

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Femme, 1949 Bronze (m...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Femme, 1949

Bronze (mislabeled in catalogue raisonné)

7 1/2 x 10 5/8 x 9 inches; 19.1 x 27 x 22.9 cm

Fundació V. Gemino, Barcelona

Edition 2/8

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Femme, 1966 Bronze wi...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Femme, 1966

Bronze with green patina

16 3/8 x 7 1/8 x 1 3/8 inches; 41.6 x 18.1 x 3.5 cm

Fundacio Parellada, Barcelona

Edition 1/5

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Femme, 1968 Bronze 67...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Femme, 1968

Bronze

67 3/4 x 27 1/2 x 11 inches; 172 x 70 x 28 cm

Fundicion Parellada, Barcelona

Edition 1/2

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Femme, 1978 Bronze wi...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Femme, 1978

Bronze with green patina

16 3/4 x 12 3/4 x 7 1/2 inches; 42.5 x 32.4 x 19.1 cm

Inscribed, lower left: "Miro 1/6"; Stamped: "Fonderia Bon Vicini"

Edition 1/6

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Femme oiseaux dans la...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Femme oiseaux dans la nuit, 1975

India ink, pastel and crayon on paper

15 x 11 inches; 38.1 x 27.9 cm

Frame dimensions: 21 5/8 x 17 3/8 inches; 54.9 x 44.1 cm

Signed, lower right: "Miró"

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Personnage, 1973 Bron...

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

Personnage, 1973

Bronze

27 1/2 x 12 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches; 69.9 x 32.4 x 12.1 cm

Signed and numbered: "Miro 1/2"

Press Release

Barbara Mathes Gallery is pleased to present "Dubuffet & Miró: A Dialogue," an exhibition of Joan Miró sculptures and Jean Dubuffet paintings and works on paper. The show will run from October 29 through December 19, 2009.

Though rarely considered together, Miró's sculptural work resonates with Dubuffet's art in both form and spirit. Both artists had an assertive way with materials that emphasized the raw, physical nature of their mediums. This aggressive materiality was often leavened with humor and fantasy, resulting in art that was sensually immediate yet also witty or wry. Miró and Dubuffet cultivated an untutored quality in their work, actively resisting their innate facility and fluency in the traditions of Western art. Their work could appear rough hewn, primitive, arbitrary, cartoonish, or even mad, yet it always retained its sense of poetry and evocative iconography.

Joan Miró (1893-1983) was a leading figure in Surrealist circles and a pioneer in the development of abstraction. Born in Spain and active in France, he was best known as a painter but relentlessly experimented with other mediums, including ceramics and assemblage. He concentrated on sculpture in the final two decades of his life, working with molded clay, painted bronze, and found objects.

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) rose to prominence in the French art world in the wake of World War II. Having initially made a career as a wine merchant, his first solo show, at the age of 41, brought him instant notoriety. Ardently opposed to artistic tradition and established authority, he drew inspiration from the drawings of children and asylum inmates, for which he coined the term art brut.

Placing these artists in the context of a shared exhibition will draw out intellectual and formal connections that often go unnoticed. While Miró and Dubuffet tend to be considered in distinct historical contexts, the dialogue that unfolds in this show reveals two bodies of work that are deeply consonant in their aims and execution.