L'Hourloupe 1964

This original 1964 exhibition poster by Jean Dubuffet was created to promote the landmark exhibition "L'Hourloupe – Exposition de Gouaches" held at Galerie Claude Bernard in Paris during December 1964. Issued at the very beginning of what would become one of Dubuffet's most celebrated artistic cycles, this poster marks the public introduction of L'Hourloupe, a visual language that would dominate the artist's work for more than a decade.

Printed in striking black, white, red, and blue, the composition features one of the earliest examples of the distinctive biomorphic forms that define the L'Hourloupe series. Filled with parallel red and blue hatchings outlined in bold black, these interlocking abstract shapes seem to fluctuate between figure and landscape, object and imagination. Set against a dramatic black background with bold modern typography, the design is both visually arresting and historically significant.

Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) developed the L'Hourloupe series almost accidentally after doodling with a ballpoint pen during telephone conversations in 1962. What began as spontaneous sketches evolved into an immense body of work encompassing paintings, gouaches, sculptures, architectural environments, and monumental public installations. The series explored Dubuffet's fascination with perception, illusion, and the unstable boundaries between reality and imagination.

By 1964, Dubuffet was already recognized internationally as one of the most influential figures in post-war art. Founder of the concept of Art Brut, he championed creativity free from academic conventions, drawing inspiration from children's drawings, outsider artists, and everyday visual experiences. L'Hourloupe represented a new phase in his career, combining playful spontaneity with a highly sophisticated graphic vocabulary that would become instantly recognizable worldwide.

The exhibition at Galerie Claude Bernard, one of Paris's leading contemporary art galleries, introduced visitors to these remarkable gouaches at the moment the series was taking shape. Today, works from L'Hourloupe are held in major museum collections including the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Fondation Dubuffet, underscoring the enduring importance of this creative period.

Beyond serving as an exhibition announcement, this poster is an outstanding example of Dubuffet's graphic design sensibility. Its minimalist typography, dramatic contrasts, and immediately recognizable imagery transform it into an artwork in its own right. Original posters from this early L'Hourloupe period are considerably rarer than later editions and are highly sought after by collectors of modern art, Art Brut, French exhibition posters, and twentieth-century graphic design.

Today, this original 1964 L'Hourloupe exhibition poster stands as an important historical document, capturing the birth of one of the defining visual languages of post-war European art and celebrating the extraordinary imagination of one of France's greatest modern artists.

Original Poster

Exposure - Modernism

Gallery Claude Bernard

Good condition