Maternité. Mother and Child. by Jean Dubuffet, 1901-1985

Jean Dubuffet, 1901-1985
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Maternité. Mother and Child.

Original brush-drawn lithograph in black ink. 1944. Signed in pencil. Inscribed in pencil as 'épreuve d'essai - trial proof'. Very rare Proof before any of the edition for the series: Matière et Mémoire - Matter and Memory, 1944. Drawn at the studio of Mourlot, Paris 1944. One of only c.10 to 12 signed impressions. The regular edition was 70 unsigned impressions.
Ref: Webel - Dubuffet L'Oeuvre Gravé 36

Superb impression. On pale cream light laid Auvergne paper. Excellent condition. Full margins, as printed. Sheet: 13 1/4 x 9 3/4ins. Image: 11 3/8 x 8ins (290x202mm)

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An exceptionally rare signed proof impression prior to the issued edition of 70 impressions which was all unsigned.

The earliest period of Dubuffet's work reveals an artist who achieved an extraordinary level of inspiration through the medium of lithography with brilliantly inventive handling of line, tone and texture, at the same time as one who had a totally new way of using themes and images taken from everyday life. Like the so-called 'artist-reporters' of the end of the 19th century Dubuffet liked to find themes which portray totally mundane ordinary motifs. But unlike those painters he did not use them for witty social commentary but, by divorcing them from reality through the manner of drawing, through context or through treatment of perspective, made us see familiar images in a way that creates a new reality. It is in a way an extension of the ideas of surrealism, for example in Magritte, but with a different aim.

Dubuffet wrote: 'Ultimately what I love, what really moves me, is the beauty of an unrecognised object'. Subjects like that 'make an abstract statement about things which are habitual'. It is a fascinating and revealing statement about the art of one of the most individual and inspired painters of the mid 20th century.

The composition above - 'Maternité' - was drawn as a part of the 'Matière et Mémoire' series. This set of 34 compositions, all using themes of common everyday life, was issued in an edition of 70 impressions, plus a few proofs, - all of which issued edition was unsigned. Just a very few signed proofs exist, mostly trial proofs, as in the case of this example. Such signed impressions are extremely rare.