Vie discrete 1959

Jean Dubuffet made this print, 'Vie discrete', using lithography sometime around 1959. The title translates as 'discreet life'. The artist was working in postwar France, a period marked by both optimism and a deep questioning of traditional values. Dubuffet was a prominent figure in the Art Brut movement which challenged academic standards of taste. In this work, we see an accumulation of marks, suggestive of urban surfaces or perhaps the unregarded details of everyday life. This aesthetic choice can be seen as a reaction against the slickness and artifice of mainstream culture, embracing the raw and the unsophisticated. It's a visual manifesto, elevating the ordinary and the overlooked. To fully appreciate Dubuffet’s project, one might turn to sources such as exhibition catalogs, critical reviews, and the artist's own writings. These resources provide context, helping us to understand the artist's position within a broader cultural and institutional landscape.