Mire G21 - Jean Dubuffet

A late-career work by Jean Dubuffet, Mire G21 features a dense, energetic web of red and blue lines set against a bright yellow background.

Mire G21 belongs to the final series of works produced by Jean Dubuffet, known as the Mires. Created in 1983, this painting demonstrates the artist's late-career shift toward a more graphic and energetic visual language. The composition is defined by a dense network of lines that traverse the surface, creating a sense of constant motion. Dubuffet employs a restricted palette of primary colours, specifically red and blue against a bright yellow ground, which forces the viewer to focus on the raw application of paint and the rhythm of the marks.

Unlike his earlier textured works that utilised sand or other materials to build physical relief, the Mires series relies on the visual tension between the lines and the flat colour fields. The title, Mire, translates to sight or target, suggesting an optical experience where the eye is invited to wander across the surface without finding a single point of rest. The lines do not define shapes in a traditional sense; instead, they function as a web that obscures and reveals the yellow background simultaneously. This approach reflects Dubuffet's interest in the immediacy of mark-making and his rejection of conventional aesthetic hierarchies. The work is a clear example of his desire to strip art back to its most basic, spontaneous elements, avoiding the constraints of representational imagery. By focusing on the interaction of colour and line, Dubuffet creates a visual field that feels both chaotic and carefully controlled. The painting remains a significant example of his late period, showing his ability to maintain a rigorous and experimental approach to painting until the end of his career.