In 1967, Jean Dubuffet donated part of his personal collection to the MAD, comprising especially graphic works, as well as 21 paintings and 7 sculptures made between 1942 and 1967. This exceptional donation by a living artist to a museum which is not, in theory, destined to house paintings, was due to the friendship of Jean Dubuffet and the museum’s director at the time, François Mathey.
This collection includes an orderly chronological selection of the work he created after closing his wine business. After a series of portraits, Dubuffet developed many experiments echoing materials and textures. Starting in the 1960s, he abandoned this austere palette for bright colours evoking the movement of urban life and then he evolved towards a series of automatic writing.