Confiture matière - lumière (Texturologie LIII) [Preserves of Matter and Light (Texturology LIII)] 1958

This is Jean Dubuffet’s ‘Confiture matière – lumière’ or ‘Preserves of Matter and Light’, made using, what looks like, an almost monochromatic palette. Dubuffet was really interested in surface, and his process was all about building up layers. It’s not immediately obvious what materials he used, but close up, the surface has so much texture. It reminds me of those tiny pointillist dots Seurat used, but here they are rough and almost granular. I get a very physical sense when I look at this, as if I could reach out and actually touch the surface. I’m drawn to the almost luminous quality of the paler tones mixed with the darker specks. It’s like he’s captured the way light interacts with matter. This kind of exploration of materials and texture puts me in mind of Antoni Tàpies, who was also making very physical, material-based paintings around the same time. Art is never just one thing; it’s more of a conversation between artists over time, a constant process of questioning and experimenting.