Angels, Demons, and Savages. Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet

The artistic relationships among Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Alfonso Ossorio (1916–1990), and Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) strongly influenced the development of postwar art. Ossorio, the central figure in the trio, was an early champion of Pollock and the close friend of Dubuffet, whose radically anticultural Art Brut collection was prominently displayed at Ossorio’s Hamptons estate. Dubuffet’s admiration for Ossorio is evident in his 1951 essay on the artist, published here for the first time in English. Angels, Demons, and Savages reveals previously unrecognized technical and thematic affinities in the artists’ work, from Dubuffet’s “raw,” unconventional style to Ossorio’s use of Christian iconography and grotesque elements to Pollock’s emphasis on medium and gestural force. Complete with two original essays and a conservation study, this groundbreaking catalogue shows how the three artists shaped the aesthetic on both sides of the Atlantic through their exchange of ideas and techniques.
Klaus Ottmann is director of the Center for the Study of Modern Art and curator at large at the Phillips Collection. Dorothy Kosinski is director of the Phillips Collection.