Le Métafisyx
Le Métafisyx is a 1950 oil painting on canvas by Jean Dubuffet. It measures 116 by 89.5 centimetres and belongs to the Musée national d'art moderne at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The museum acquired it in 1976; its inventory number is AM 1976-12.[1]
Form and title
The work belongs to Dubuffet's exploration of the human figure in his Corps de dames series. Its broad, flattened figure and small head are set within a thickly worked surface. A Centre Pompidou educational study discusses the gold-like colour and the way the figure fills the picture, relating these choices to Dubuffet's challenge to conventional ideals of beauty.[2]
The same study interprets the invented title as wordplay suggesting both métaphysique and sphinx. It presents this as an open-ended association rather than a single fixed meaning.[2]
References
- ↑ Centre Pompidou. Le Métafisyx. Illustrated collection label, AM 1976-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Centre Pompidou, Direction de l'action éducative et des publics (February 2006). “Le corps dans l'œuvre”, section on Jean Dubuffet.