Harvard Art Museums > 2003.57: Landscape with Figures Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Landscape with Figures (Jean Dubuffet) , 2003.57,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/143235. This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2003.57 People Jean Dubuffet, French (LeHavre, France 1901 - 1985 Paris, France) Title Landscape with Figures Other Titles Original Language Title: Paysage avec personnages Classification Paintings Work Type painting Date 1946 Places Creation Place: Europe, France Culture French Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/143235 Location Location Level 1, Room 1330, Modern and Contemporary Art, New Images View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Oil on canvas Dimensions 97 x 130 cm (38 3/16 x 51 3/16 in.) framed: 104.2 x 137.5 x 3.9 cm (41 x 54 1/8 x 1 9/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks Signed: on reverse in black paint on canvas: J. Dubuffet '46 Provenance Recorded Ownership History Mrs. Frances Leventritt, New York, New York, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2003. NOTE: Painting was on loan to the Art Museums from April 2002 to the time of the gift. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Frances Leventritt in honor of John Rosenfield Copyright © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Accession Year 2003 Object Number 2003.57 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description The painting depicts figures inscribed in a gridded landscape of trees, houses, an automobile, and various ambiguous features as well. The facture consists of a layering of black and green and white paint on a red ground with vigorous scratchings and more subtle additions of paint. Commentary This is a remarkably powerful painting from Dubuffet's prolific burst of early work. It demonstrates both his interest in appropriating what he dubbed Art Brut, or "primitive" art, and his deep knowledge of modernist painting and its use of the grid as an organizing pictorial principle. While part of a loose series depicting anonymous figures in a clotted semi-urban landscape under a strip of sky, the picture is remarkable for its vigorous handling and all-over treatment of the surface. Publication History Max Loreau, ed., Catalogue des travaux de Jean Dubuffet, J.-J. Pauvert (Paris, France, 1964), vol. 2, p. 95, no. 143 Exhibition History 32Q: 1330 Mid-Century Figurative, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/01/2050 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu