Monsieur Plume with Creases in his Trousers (Portrait of Henri Michaux) 1947

Curator: This is Jean Dubuffet's "Monsieur Plume with Creases in his Trousers (Portrait of Henri Michaux)," currently residing here at the Tate Modern. The support measures approximately 130 x 96 cm. Editor: My first impression? A ghostly bureaucrat. He looks like he's made of old bones and moonlight, all sharp angles against that unsettling dark ground. Curator: Dubuffet, as a key figure in Art Brut, often challenged conventional notions of beauty and representation. Consider the context: postwar Europe, a deep distrust of institutions. Editor: Right, and that raw, almost primitive style? It feels like a rejection of everything polished and refined. Like he’s scraping away the surface to reveal something… unsettling. Curator: The title itself points to a kind of absurd specificity, highlighting mundane details even as the overall image is so abstracted. Editor: I love the tension between the formal title and the image. It's like a cosmic joke, hinting at a deeper unease beneath the surface of respectability. Well, that was wonderfully macabre! Curator: Indeed, a fitting end to our exploration of Dubuffet's defiant vision.