Esplanade ombreuse 1958

Jean Dubuffet made this print, Esplanade Ombreuse, sometime in the mid-20th century, using a palette of browns, ochres, and creams. Imagine the lithographic stone, and the artist scratching, smearing, and blotting away at its surface. The result is a rough and ready landscape. I imagine Dubuffet leaning over the stone, thinking about his own version of the French countryside. What emerges are these mottled surfaces, which remind me a little of the paintings of the Scottish artist, Alan Davie. Both artists were interested in a kind of mark-making that wasn't so precious, and wasn't all about good taste, but instead allowed for accident and chance to play a role. The title suggests a shady or sheltered place. I can picture the artist enjoying the feeling of being in the shadows on a hot day. It makes me think about how painting is like a conversation across time, where we as artists, and viewers, can find new ways of understanding ourselves.