Fleur d'air 1959

Jean Dubuffet made 'Fleur d'air' in 1959, and the all-over composition feels so contemporary, doesn’t it? What I love about Dubuffet is his sensitivity to his materials, so he's not just thinking about the image but very consciously working *with* them. The texture is soft, almost like a suede. It’s this kind of speckled, grainy surface, with slight tonal variations. I find it so captivating because it invites you into a tactile experience. It's like, can I touch it? What would it feel like? You get the sense of a buildup of layers, but they're so subtle. That mark in the upper right quadrant, it's like a breath, right? It's barely there, but it’s enough to remind you that this is made by an artist, not a machine. Dubuffet reminds me a little bit of Antoni Tàpies, another European artist who worked with rough textures and a limited palette, making painting that is both ancient and completely new. Ultimately, for Dubuffet, and for me, it’s about the conversation between the artist and the materials.