The volume gathers a sequence of texts by Jean Dubuffet devoted to his sculptural work, translated from the French and set alongside reproductions of his late maquettes. It was issued as the catalogue accompanying an exhibition of Dubuffet’s sculpture at the Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden in Wuppertal, and its selection of writings follows the artist’s thinking about three-dimensional work from the painted polystyrene pieces of the Hourloupe cycle through to the large architectural constructions and the models made for them.
The texts are not a single continuous treatise but a compilation of letters, notes, statements, and a speech, arranged to illuminate different stages and problems of Dubuffet’s sculptural practice. The opening piece is a letter addressed to visitors to an exhibition of his work in Le Havre, which serves as an introduction to the concerns of the volume. A text titled “Maquettes” addresses the role of the model in his working process, while a “Note on the Painted Polystyrene Hourloupe Pieces” explains the materials and procedures behind the group of works in which flat, cell-like patterns were carried into three dimensions. “Concerning the Status of Several of my Monuments and Architectural Elements” considers the ambiguous standing of these works between sculpture and architecture. Further pieces include “Background Material for Georges Limbour,” “Sculpture Projects in Jean Dubuffet’s Albums,” and a discussion of the work “Groupe de quatre arbres.” A speech delivered in New York extends the artist’s public statements on his aims, and letters to Françoise Choay and Rudi Oxenaar address particular projects and their contexts.
The later sections turn to specific architectural ensembles: “Edifices,” “Cabinet logologique,” “Closerie Falbala,” and “Habitats, Closerie Falbala, Salon d’été.” In these texts Dubuffet discusses the conception and realisation of the walk-in environments and structures that occupied him in his later years, including the relationship between the painted maquette and the full-scale construction. An appendix closes the volume.
Across these writings a consistent set of ideas emerges. Dubuffet describes the Hourloupe as a language of cell-like structures restricted to red, white, blue, and black, which he allowed to develop according to their own internal logic rather than according to received compositional rules. He presents the sculptural works that grew out of this idiom—first as small painted polystyrene objects and later as large, free-standing and architectural pieces—as a parallel world to the real one, a fabrication of private fantasy and a way of interpreting forms not programmed by nature. The texts also reflect his broader antagonism toward intellectualised art and his advocacy of raw, visceral modes of making, including the art brut he collected and championed. The maquettes reproduced in the book are presented as models for monumental, walk-in architectural pieces, and the writings describe the mental path by which Dubuffet moved from drawing and painting into sculpture and constructed space.
The book is illustrated with numerous colour and black-and-white reproductions of the late maquettes and related works, so that the texts and images together document Dubuffet’s extended reflection on the status of sculpture, the use of ordinary materials, the crossing of the boundary between sculpture and architecture, and the creation of immersive environments conceived as alternatives to the given world.
The writings collectively articulate Dubuffet’s philosophy of art as an escape from conventional perception and a celebration of the spontaneous and the unrefined. He consistently challenges the traditional hierarchy of art forms and materials, advocating for the use of humble, everyday substances in his sculptural explorations. The book delves into his process of transforming two-dimensional graphic patterns into three-dimensional objects and ultimately into habitable structures, demonstrating a fluid boundary between drawing, painting, and sculpture. His discussions reveal a deep engagement with the idea of creating a parallel reality, a “second world” that operates according to its own internal rules, distinct from the perceived reality. This concept is central to understanding the Hourloupe cycle, which he presents not merely as a style but as a comprehensive system for generating forms and spaces. The texts also underscore his commitment to an art that is immediate and intuitive, often contrasting it with what he perceives as the overly intellectualized and academic art of his time. Through these collected pieces, the reader gains insight into Dubuffet’s persistent questioning of artistic conventions, his innovative approach to materials, and his vision of art as a powerful tool for reimagining and reconstructing the world around us.
