Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Two Bedouins

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Jean Dubuffet
1901-1985

Two Bedouins

January-April 1948
18 1/2 x 22 1/4 inches (47 x 56.5 cm)
Paint with gum arabic on paper.
2017.283

Gift of The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, New York.

Notes
During the winter 1947-48, Dubuffet spent five months in the Sahara desert, where he painted his impressions of the local mores and population in colorful studies in his typical style inspired by childrenʼs drawings, graffiti, and the art of psychiatric patients. The subject of the present sheet reveals his fascination with the pattern of folds in the Bedouinsʼ burnooses. Using a home-made gouache he produced by mixing pigments with gum arabic, Dubuffet applied the medium in layers, scratching the top layers to expose brighter colors below and creating a rich surface.
Classification
Century Drawings