Double self-portrait in a bowler hat - Jean Dubuffet

A striking ink and wash self-portrait by Jean Dubuffet, featuring the artist in duplicate wearing his signature bowler hat.

Jean Dubuffet produced this double self-portrait in 1947, a period when his interest in the raw, unrefined aesthetic of Art Brut was fully formed. The work depicts the artist twice, both figures wearing the characteristic bowler hat that became a recurring motif in his personal iconography. The composition relies on high-contrast ink washes, creating a stark separation between the figures and the empty background.

Dubuffet rejects traditional academic techniques in favour of a more direct, almost childlike approach to mark-making. The lines are rapid and gestural, capturing the essence of the subjects rather than a precise anatomical likeness. The shading is applied in bold, flat blocks of ink, which flattens the pictorial space and emphasises the graphic quality of the drawing. By presenting himself in duplicate, Dubuffet invites the viewer to consider the multiplicity of the self, a theme he explored through various media throughout his career.

This drawing reflects the artist's rejection of conventional beauty and his preference for the spontaneous. The bowler hat serves as a symbol of the bourgeois individual, yet Dubuffet renders it with a sense of irony and detachment. The lack of environmental detail forces the focus onto the expressions and postures of the two figures. This piece provides a clear view into the artist's methodology, where the economy of line and the weight of the ink wash work together to define form. It is a characteristic example of his mid-career output, demonstrating his ability to balance caricature with a serious investigation of human identity.