“Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet”

The French artist Jean Dubuffet coined the term "Art Brut" in the 1940s to describe the work of self-taught artists. Dubuffet's definition, however, wasn't nearly as broad as the current catch-all, Outsider Art, since he specifically limited the idea to children and psychiatric hospital patients. Still, it’s hard to imagine the widespread attention being paid to Outsider Art today without the role Dubuffet played. This exhibition of 180 artworks on loan from the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland, examines how his gospel of Art Brut spread to these shores.