Dubuffet’s L‘homme à la Toque (“Man with a cap”) is a stunning museum quality work, created at the start of his most prolific and valuable period, “L’Hourloupe”. He is one of the most influential postwar European artists. Dubuffet coined the term “Art Brut” (“raw art”), describing work made from outside “normal culture”, influencing artists like Jean Michelle Basquiat, Anselm Kiefer, and John Chamberlain. Dubuffet is important not because he refined the canon, but because he disrupted it. His legacy lies in his ability to redefine artistic value around authenticity, expression, and inclusivity, long before those became buzzwords in the contemporary art world.

In this work, Dubuffet combines oil paint with collage elements on canvas, creating a rough, highly textured surface. The figure, crudely rendered with exaggerated features, embodies his rejection of traditional beauty and his embrace of the primitive, spontaneous, and visceral. The human form, merging with the earth, reminds us that one day we too will return to dust, blown by the wind, to return to Mother Nature.

The painting critiques social norms and beauty standards, offering a raw vision of humanity. This painting is not merely a portrait—it is a philosophical stance rendered in form and material, a testament to Dubuffet’s enduring value and influence on contemporary art.

The work holds critical art historical importance, particularly as a precursor to the visual language he would refine in the 1960s. Works from the 1950s (like L'homme à la toque) are highly sought after in museums and collections. Leading institutions like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Centre Pompidou, and the Tate Modern present Dubuffet alongside peers like Jean Fautrier, Francis Bacon, and Alberto Giacometti, highlighting his response to the trauma of World War II and the rise of existential thought.

Provenance
Galerie Rive Gauche, Paris (acquired in 1957)
Private Collection, Paris (acquired by 1969)
Galerie Cazeau-Béraudiere, Paris (acquired by 2006) 
Private Collection, USA (acquired from the above)
Phillips NY, Sale NY010321, 23rd June 2021, lot 8
Private Collection, Europe

Exhibitions
Paris, Galerie Rive Droite, Tableaux d’assemblages, 30 April – 23 May 1957, no. 22, n.p. 
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Jean Dubuffet, February – April 1965, no. 39, n.p.

Literature/Press
Max Loreau (ed.), Catalogue des travaux de Jean Dubuffet: fascicule XII: Tableaux d’assemblages, Lausanne, 1969, no. 80, p. 130, illustrated p. 73