Le Boqueteau des 7 Arbres (The Copse of 7 Trees), 1988
(Flaine Forum, on top of the embankment)
Model, 1969, Construction, 1988. Height 9.2m
Monumental sculpture in epoxy resin on iron frame
Gift of the Scaler Foundation (foundation created in the 50s in the USA by Eric and Sylvie Boissonnas for their cultural, artistic and educational philanthropic activities). Collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Georges Pompidou Centre, on deposit at Flaine
Jean Dubuffet was a French artist, sculptor and writer. He rejected traditional forms of art, instead becoming interested in what are known as ‘non-cultural art forms’. He was the first to theorise about an artistic style that he called “raw art” and that was produced by marginal artists or the mentally ill; painters, sculptors and calligraphers that had inspired him greatly. The ‘Bouqueteau’ is part of his ‘Hourloupe’ series. From this period, Dubuffet no longer conceived his work on the scale of an exhibition hall, but on that of a town or a mountain. From 1967, he only produced monumental-scaled sculptures.
In Flaine, the whiteness of the ‘Boqueteau’ is set against a mountain background. It detaches itself in a very contrasting manner depending on the season, growing either from an alpine meadow or from the snow. The seven trees are painted white and black, replicating the Hourloupe pattern. This monumental sculpture sits on top of an embankment, dominating the Forum and interacting with ‘genuine’ nature and with the geometry of Marcel Breuer’s architecture. They were named: the Butterfly, the Bulb, the Great Lobed One, the Antennae, the Bent One, the Two-Dimensional-Opened-Out Tree and the Sun.
Find out more about the artist and his work, at: www.dubuffetfondation.com
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