Page 43 - Studio International - January 1965

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men took possession of the canvas. Of this transitory
theme, the Hourloupe retains but one aspect: that of
proliferation. But what multiplies in the canvases
grouped under this theme, which are of large dimen­
sions and which constitute an uninterrupted sequence,
are the amiboidal forms enclosed in a sinuous but
firmly drawn contour, fitting into one another like a
jigsaw. On these Dubuffet has taken his pencil or
brush and has applied himself conscientiously to
hatching most of the forms, filling them with parallel
strokes in directions varying from one enclosure to
another in the manner of chevrons.
The process engenders enormous chromatic surfaces

of which the colour, enclosed in precise lines, seems to
be sometimes borrowed from the elementary palette of
Leger. The hatchings evoke those topographical
sketches and these marine maps which suggest the
relief of the earth and the depths of the sea by strokes
of greater or lesser breadth.
In the same manner it can happen that in front of these
new Dubuffet's you scan the painting for some time
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