This autumn 2017, Lelong Editions is showcasing the prints of an important and unique figure in 20th Century art: Jean Dubuffet. A number of essential works from the artist’s career will be displayed around the bookstore.

Better known for his paintings, sculptures and collages, in his early career in the 1940s, Dubuffet developed a passion for various printing techniques. Some rare pieces from this period, printed at Atelier Mourlot in Paris, are included in the exhibition. During the 1950s and early 1960s, he took the art of lithography to new heights, by exploring in a number of albums the complex textures of floors, walls and surfaces. At this time, he produced a series of heads in profile or face-on, some with hats, some without, creating truly truculent figures. In addition, a selection of lithographies and screen-prints from the 1980s, with very bright colours, linked to his paintings from his later years, will be exhibited.

Jean Dubuffet was born in Le Havre in 1901 and died in Paris in 1985. He created his own foundation in 1973, which continues to be very active today and ensures that his body of work is known, respected and promoted; it is regularly exhibited in museums around the world. At the moment, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is exhibiting Dubuffet’s monumental sculptures, while the Stedelijk Museum in the same city is exhibiting his vast collection of paintings in its entirety.