Jean Dubuffet's Complex Relationship with Venice Explored in Palazzo Franchetti Exhibition

Palazzo Franchetti on the Grand Canal hosts a major exhibition timed to the Venice Biennale, examining Jean Dubuffet's fraught relationship with Venice through three key moments: his 1949 refusal to exhibit, his 1964 Hourloupe cycle premiere at Palazzo Grassi, and his 1984 French Pavilion representation. Curated by Sophie Webel and Frédéric Jaeger with the Fondation Dubuffet, the show features over 100 works across ten rooms, including 17 Hourloupe paintings (1962-67), 28 lithographs and 8 works from the late 1950s, and 15 Mires paintings from the 1980s. In 1949, Dubuffet rejected an invitation from Venetian publisher Bruno Alfieri, denouncing the art system and Biennales. By 1964, he accepted Paolo Marinotti's invitation to debut the Hourloupe cycle at Palazzo Grassi, concurrent with the Biennale, achieving critical success. In 1984, at age 83, he represented France in the pavilion curated by Daniel Abadie, presenting 34 new Mires paintings. The exhibition includes photographic, documentary, and filmic materials, plus two sculptures on the stairs and in the garden.