The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 29, 2026

A horizontally oriented oil painting on burlap depicts a textured landscape in muted pinks, browns, grays, and blues. The surface is densely filled with scratched lines forming circular patterns and gridded shapes. On our left, a pointed structure labeled HOTEL contains a small figure. In the upper right, a large figure with a smiling face waves. Stick-like trees and a textured ground create a crowded, expressive scene.

Landscape with a Walker Greeting the Public

1949

Jean Dubuffet

(French, 1901–1985)
France
oil on burlap
88.9 x 116.2 cm (35 x 45 3/4 in.)
Partial purchase from the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund and funds from the Estate of Muriel Butkin, and partial donation from Milly and Arne Glimcher in honor of Agnes Gund 2026.9
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: 225 German Expressionism & Surrealism

Did You Know?

The artist Jean Dubuffet famously wrote: “Art doesn't go to sleep in the bed made for it. It would sooner run away than say its own name: what it likes is to be incognito. Its best moments are when it forgets what its own name is.”

Description

Through his art, Jean Dubuffet challenged the cultural landscape of the mid-1900s, rebelling against prevailing notions of high culture and beauty with his unrefined technique and use of rough surfaces. This painting belongs to a series the artist called Les Paysages grotesques (Grotesque landscapes) in which the artist described the landscape, figures, and objects in a tangled mass of lines and shapes. In the upper right, a smiling figure greets the viewer with a friendly wave.
  • The artist
    After 1949–by 1987
    (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY, no. 2314, acquired from the artist)
    June 5, 1987
    (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY, June 5, 1987, sold to Morton and Linda Janklow)
    1987–?
    Morton and Linda Janklow, New York, NY
    By 2016–2026
    Arnold and Mildred Glimcher Collection, New York, NY
    2026
    (Pace Gallery, New York, NY, 2026, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2026–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Loreau, Max. Catalogue Des Travaux de Jean Dubuffet. Paris: Minuit, 1964. Reproduced: p. 49, no. 70, Fascicule 5
    Glimcher, Arnold B., and PaceWildenstein (Firm). Jean Dubuffet: The Radiant Earth. New York City: PaceWildenstein, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 5-6, fig. 1
    Ottmann, Klaus, and Dorothy M. Kosinski. Angels, Demons and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet. New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the Phillips Collection and the Parrish Art Museum, 2013. Reproduced: pl. 43
    Bouvier, Raphaël. Jean Dubuffet: Metamorphoses of Landscape. Basel, Switzerland, Ostfildern, Germany: Fondation Beyeler; Hatje Cantz, 2016. Reproduced: p. 47
  • Jean Dubuffet, Metamorphoses of Landscape. Fondation Beyler, Basel, Switzerland (January 31–May 8, 2016).
    Angels, Demons, and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio and Dubuffet, 1948-1952. Parrish Art Museum, Southhampton, NY (July 28–October 21, 2013).
    Jean Dubuffet: The Radiant Earth. PaceWildenstein, New York, NY (February 22–March 23, 1996).
  • {{cite web|title=Landscape with a Walker Greeting the Public|url=false|author=Jean Dubuffet|year=1949|access-date=29 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2026.9