Jean Dubuffet

1947-1950 Sells his wine business. Three successive journeys in the Algerian Sahara. Foundation of the " Compagnie de l'Art brut ". First American exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York.

1951 First journey to New York (six months). Programmatic speech on " Anticultural positions " at the Art Institute of Chicago.

1952-1954 Meets Louis-Ferdinand Celine. First retrospective at Cercle Volney, Paris.

1955-1959 Moves to Vence (Alpes-Maritimes). Construction of a house and studios. Within the following years, he alternately lives in Paris and Vence. Begins the series of lithographs Les Phénomènes (completed in 1962).

1960-1961 An office, which documents his work, is installed in Paris. Musical experiments together with Asger Jorn. Major retrospective at the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris.

1962 Important change in Dubuffet's work : in July, beginning of the Hourloupe series on which he works until 1974. Return to Paris of the Art brut collection, which had been stationed in New York since 1951. Major retrospective at Museum of Modern Art, New York.

1964 Exhibition of " L'Hourloupe " paintings at Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Publishes the first volume of his " Catalogue intégral des travaux " (38 volumes).

1966 The artistic language of L'Hourloupe is being expanded to the third dimension : sculpts polystyrene.

1967 Important donation of his own works to the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris. Publication of collection of Dubuffet's writings, 2 vol.: " Prospectus et tous écrits suivants " (2 additional vol. to be published in 1995).

1968 Publishes " Asphyxiante culture "