In 1923, after reading Hans Prinzhorn’s Artistry of the Mentally Ill (1922), in which the art of the mentally ill was first considered to have aesthetic value, Dubuffet became interested in pictures made by those without formal training—the uninitiated, the alienated, and especially the insane. In 1945, he started a collection of these pictures, which he called "art brut" (raw art). Emulating these works, Dubuffet intentionally adopted a crude style in Apartment Houses, Paris, which depicts pedestrians in the back alleys of Paris. Here, the street, sidewalks, and houses are stacked in rows, one above the other, without perspective, depth, or modeling.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Inscription: Signed and dated (verso): J. Dubuffet / 1946
the artist, Paris (1946; sold in October 1946, for $300, as "Vue de Paris," to Matisse); [Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1946–47; stock no. 1733; sold on June 7, 1947 to Marx]; Samuel and Florene Marx, Chicago (1947–his d. 1964); Florene May Marx, later Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn, New York (1964–d. 1995; her bequest to MMA)
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "The New Decade: 22 European Painters and Sculptors," May 10–August 7, 1955, unnumbered cat. (p. 19; as "Building Façades," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel A. Marx, Chicago).
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The New Decade: 22 European Painters and Sculptors," September 21–October 30, 1955, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum. "The New Decade: 22 European Painters and Sculptors," November 21, 1955–January 7, 1956, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "The New Decade: 22 European Painters and Sculptors," February 2–March 15, 1956, unnumbered cat.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," November 2, 1965–January 2, 1966, unnumbered cat. (p. 54; as "Building Facades, Paris").
Art Institute of Chicago. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," February 11–March 27, 1966, unnumbered cat.
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," April 26–June 13, 1966, unnumbered cat.
Mexico City. Museo de Arte Moderno. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," July 2–August 7, 1966, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," September 2–October 2, 1966, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Florene M. Schoenborn Bequest: 12 Artists of the School of Paris," February 11–May 4, 1997, extended to August 31, 1997, brochure no. 6 (as "Apartment Buildings, Paris").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 119).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection," May 18, 2004–June 26, 2005, no catalogue (checklist no. 17).
Paris. Mona Bismarck Foundation. "Pierre Matisse, passeur passionné: Un marchand d'art et ses artistes," October 20, 2005–January 14, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 103; as "Façades d'immeubles").
New York. Acquavella Galleries. "Jean Dubuffet: 'Anticultural Positions'," April 15–June 10, 2016, no. 10 (as "Façades d'immeubles [Apartment Houses, Paris]").
Georges Limbour. Tableau bon levain à vous de cuire la pâte: L'Art Brut de Jean Dubuffet. New York, 1953, p. 101, ill. p. 30, calls it "Façades d'immeubles".
Lucy R. Lippard inThe School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1965, p. 54, ill. (color).
Max Loreau. Catalogue des travaux de Jean Dubuffet. Vol. 2, Mirobolus, Macadam et Cie. Paris, 1966, pp. 102, 131, no. 154, ill. (color), calls it "Façades d'immeubles" and dates it July 1946.
Carol Vogel. "32 Works of Art by Masters Left to Met and the Modern." New York Times (November 25, 1996), p. C12, calls it "Paris Apartment Buildings".
William S. Lieberman. "Donnés au Met." Connaissance des arts no. 539 (May 1997), ill. p. 72 (color).
Mark Rosenthal inJean Dubuffet: "Anticultural Positions". Exh. cat., Acquavella Galleries. New York, 2016, pp. 13, 202, no. 10, ill. pp. 104–5 (color, detail and overall), 202 (color).
Anny Aviram and Cecilia Winter inJean Dubuffet: "Anticultural Positions". Exh. cat., Acquavella Galleries. New York, 2016, pp. 74, 80, ill. (color).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
