Jean Dubuffet's Monument with Standing Beast

Artist Jean Dubuffet felt a special affection for Chicago, home to one of his three monumental sculpture commissions in this country. Monument with Standing Beast is comprised of four elements that suggest a standing animal, a tree, a portal and an architectural form. The configuration invites viewers to enter the sculpture and echoes the dramatically open plan of the James R. Thompson Center.

Dubuffet described the sculpture as a “drawing which extends…into space” and hoped it would resonate with the average person on the street. Monument with Standing Beast reflects Dubuffet’s career-long development of his own often brutal, urban style utilizing street language, graffiti and caricature.