Business Lunch
| Artist | Jean Dubuffet (French, 1901–1985) |
|---|---|
| Title | Business Lunch (Déjeuner d'affaires) |
| Date | 1946 |
| Medium | Oil and sand on canvas |
| Dimensions | Framed: 36 5/8 x 47 1/4 in. (93 x 120 cm) Stretcher: 35 x 45 1/2 in. (88.9 x 115.6 cm) |
| Credit Line | Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry R. Hope, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 69.157 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
Five stylized male figures seated at a table and eating. The composition is primarily black and white, but some color is visible in areas that have been incised through the heavy-handed paint strokes.
With its caricatured depiction of identically dressed businessmen devouring their lunch, this painting satirizes postwar conformity. A leader of the Art brut (raw art) movement, which rejected the norms and power structure of the mainstream art world, Jean Dubuffet took his inspiration from art created by the mentally ill, folk artists, and other self-taught artists. This work is painted with a technique Dubuffet called haute pâte (high impasto), in which the painting is built up in numerous layers. He covered a white ground with a layer of oil paint and then applied a thick coating of dark pigments mixed with sand. The figures are incised into the rough surface, giving them a graffiti-like quality.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
Request this image
The Eskenazi Museum of Art provides images of its collection, free of charge, upon request.
This artwork is under copyright protection. You can request the image and it will be emailed to you when the request is complete.
Cite this page
"Business Lunch | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=69.157