Black Earth 1955

Jean Dubuffet made this strange and compelling painting called Black Earth with oil paint, creating these blotchy, ghostly figures that seem to emerge from the earth itself. I imagine Dubuffet smearing the paint, maybe even using his hands, to build up this gritty texture. It's like he's digging into the surface, unearthing these primitive forms. Look at how the figures are barely there, like pale ghosts in the gloom. That one figure, off to the side, seems to be caught mid-stride, and it reminds me of some half-remembered dream or a drawing from a kid's notebook. Dubuffet was into that—raw expression, untouched by conventional ideas of beauty or skill. It's all about feeling and instinct. You can see how he was in dialogue with artists like Paul Klee, who also tapped into that primal wellspring of creativity. Ultimately, it’s like Dubuffet is reminding us that art is not about perfection but about the messy, beautiful process of finding our way.