Jean Dubuffet was a French painter, sculptor, and founder of the Art Brut movement; an artistic movement that embraced the idea of raw, artistic expression unencumbered by mainstream culture. Dubuffet believed that the influence of mainstream culture suffocated genuine creativity, and worked to create outside the principles of the art world. He often employed unconventional materials–oil paintings like L'homme à la toque, 1956, were created using an impasto thickened by natural materials such as sand, tar and straw; and he often used elements of collage by recycling different discarded papers and other ephemera.

In 1956, Jean Dubuffet created L’homme à la toque during his Matériologies period, in which he explored heavily textured surfaces and raw, unconventional materials. This work exemplifies his rejection of traditional artistic refinement, incorporating thick impasto and collage-like elements to create a rough, almost sculptural composition. Through its earthy tones and fragmented forms, the piece reflects Dubuffet’s fascination with the rawness of nature and the primal connections between humanity and the environment.