Jean Dubuffet
French, 1901­1985
Supervielle, Large Banner Portrait
1945
Oil on canvas
130.2 x 97.2 cm
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice E. Culberg, 1950.1367
© 1995 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York  / ADAGP, Paris

The artist Dubuffet deliberately made pictures that looked like children’s art, such as finger paintings or mud drawings. He often used gravel, sand, chalk or string, as well as thick layers of paint, in his works. Many people were shocked by Dubuffet’s “ugly” images, but the artist believed that what he called “raw art” reflected a basic, creative impulse common to the art of children and so-called “primitive” art. The man in this portrait—a poet and playwright from South America—was a good friend of the artist. How do you think the friend liked his portrait?