"Art doesn't go to sleep in the bed made for it; it would sooner run away than say its own name: what it likes is to be incognito. Its best moments are when it forgets what its own name is." (Dubuffet)

1. "Informe" and "Tachisme" in Europe
   1. Jean Dubuffet's "l'art brut" (France, 1901-1985)
   2. Jean Fautrier (France, 1898-1964)
   3. Antoni Tapiés (Spain, b. 1923)
2. The "Nouveaux Realistes"
   1. Yves Klein (Fr, 1928-1962)
   2. Arman (b. Armand Fernandez, 1928)
   3. Jean Tinguely (Swiss, 1925-1991)
3. The d'affichistes or "decollage" artists
   1. Mimmo Rotella (Italian, b. 1918)
   2. Jacques de la Villegle (Fr., b. 1926)
4. CoBrA [Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam]
   1. Asger Jorn (Denmark, 1914-1973)
   2. Karel Appel (Holland, 1921)
   3. Pierre Alechinsky (Belgium, 1927)

Slide List

Giacometti Tall Figure 1949
Burri Large Sack (Sacco...) 1954
Tapies Grey & Black Cross 1955
deStael Roof Tops 1955
Dubuffet Childbirth 1945
Dubuffet Michel Tapié soleil 1946
Dubuffet Paul Leautaud 1946
Dubuffet Corps de dame series 1950
Fautrier Hôtage (Hostage) series 1944
Fautrier The Massacre (a.k.a. Sarah) 1944
Fautrier Nu (Nude) 1946
Fautrier Sarah 1942
Fautrier Tete d'otage 1944
Giacometti Head of a Man (or Head on a Rod) 1947
Giacometti The Hand 1947
Giacometti Tall Figure 1947
Giacometti City Square 1948
Hartung T1947-54 1947
Pollock Lavender Mist 1950
Klein Monochrome series 1959-1960s (Titles: L'Accord bleu 1960, Monochrome I.K.B. 191 1962),
Klein Leap into the Void 1960
Klein Anthropometries series 1960
Klein Painter of space leaps into the Void 1960
Klein performing Antropometrics 1961
Klein Ant. 1 30 1960s
Klein Monochrome IKB 1962
Klein The Void 1958
Arman Madison Avenue 1962
Arman Nominatif 1952
Arman Cold Petting or Venu$ 1970
Tinguely Homage to New York March 7 1960
Rotella Marilyn 1963
Soulages July 10, 1950 1950
Villegle Boulevard de la Villette 23 March 1972
Jorn The avant-garde will not be stopped 1962
Appel Man 1953
Alechinsky Oui ou non 1968
Wols Anxious Face 1946

Alberto Giacometti, Head of a Man (or Head on a Rod), 1947
Alberto Giacometti, The Hand, 1947
Alberto Giacometti, Tall Figure, 1947
Alberto Giacometti, City Square, 1948

Turning from Surrealism in 1935, Giacometti wanted to "render only what the eye sees" -- but this turned out to be a process riddled with existential doubt.

Jean Fautrier, Sarah, 1942
Jean Fautrier, Tete d'otage, 1944
Wols, Anxious Face, 1946

Like Giacometti, Fautrier and Wols each sought humble imagery of the informe - the dejecta of society, body fragments and abject bodies that seemed to speak to the war and its horrific realities.

Jean Dubuffet, Paul Leautaud, 1946
Jean Dubuffet, Corps de Dame, 1950

Dubuffet sought his own "ground zero" for art -- a place to begin anew with his "anti-cultural positions" and l'art brut.

Nicholas deStael, Roof Tops, 1955

The "haute pâté" (thick paste) paintings of Fautrier, Wols, and Dubuffet gave impetus to Tachisme ("stain" or "blot"), otherwise known as l'art informel (or art of the informe).

Alberto Burri, Large Sack (Sacco...), 1954
Antonio Tapies, Grey & Black Cross, 1955

Other "Tachists" used humble discards sewn patiently together (Burri) or created thick, impastoed surfaces that evoked the cratered walls of war-torn Europe (Tapies).

Soulages, July 10, 1950, 1950

Younger painters moved toward abstraction and gesture, in part encouraged by visits from Americans such as Rothko. How did Soulages mark his identification with the lowly artisan?

Hartung, T1947-54, 1947
Pollock, Lavender Mist, 1950

Note the size of Hartung's image in relation to the aggressive courting of the sublime in the US painting.

Nouveaux Realistes

Arman, Nominatif, 1952
Klein, The Void, 1958

Grouped by critics under the misleading sobriquet "Les Nouveaux Realistes," Klein, Arman, and a few others sought to infuse their works with elements drawn from the world but given new spiritual significance.

Klein, Painter of space leaps into the Void, 1960
Klein performing Antropometrics, 1961
Klein, Ant. 1 30, 1960s
Klein, Monochrome IKB, 1962

"The painter only has to paint one masterpiece, himself, constantly."

Judo master (supposedly) after a 1952 trip to Japan, Klein began to extend the notion of the work-as-a-performance to all aspects of the artist's life. His patented color, "International Klein Blue," resonated with deeply held Rosicrucian beliefs about spirituality and color symbolism; its origin lay in Klein's fantasy of signing the sky as his first work of art. Sham or Shaman? Showman or Seer? You decide.

COBRA

Karel Appel, Exploded Head, 1958
Jorn, Untitled, 1954

Although COBRA artists declared their group identitiy in November 1948, their style of wild expressionism did not mature until the mid-1950s.