Jean Dubuffet’s Alchemy: High Pastes for High Tastes

Abstract

Jean Dubuffet made his name and fortune in 1946 with Mirobolus, Macadam et Cie.: Hautes pâtes, a series of thick, high-relief paintings made of tar, asphalt, plaster and white lead, embellished with sand, pebbles, glass and straw. A succès de scandal, the hautes pâtes turned Dubuffet into what one critic called the “à la mode” painter, but they also demonstrated his passion for high fashion and luxury goods. The literature has focused on Dubuffet’s use of crude “brut” materials, but largely overlooked the fact that he depicted the members of his “Cie.” (company) accessorized with luxury goods (fur stoles, handbags and high heeled shoes) and adorned with jewelry (earrings, rings, pocket watches and medallions). This article revisits Dubuffet’s breakthrough exhibition and argues that the subtext of the series was a polemic on luxury. Emerging at the cusp of the postwar economic boom, Dubuffet’s high pastes speak to his public’s high taste, underlining the commerce between materiality and materialism.