A Meeting With the Devil

ELEMENTS OF JEAN DUBUFFET'S VACHE ROUGE

What would you do if one day you woke up and realized there was a devil sitting in your front yard? Maybe that's a little melodramatic, but it's not dissimilar to how Europeans might have felt as the pieces of the Second World War were gradually set into motion and the most deadly conflict in human history turned their home continent into a place of fear. It's no wonder the art of the period — including surrealism, with its rejection of rationality and exploration of the unconscious (fitting for a time when logic and reality seemed to break into shards) — reflected this emotional turmoil in a variety of forms.

Vache Rouge by Jean Dubuffet | Image

One of the artists who participated in this movement was Jean Dubuffet, whose painting Vache Rouge, meaning "Red Cow" in English, expresses the somber turn of humanity to violence and destruction. From its iconography to the composition and historical background of this piece, it's rife with components to examine and explore as we unravel the ideas expressed in the painting. Let's look through them one category at a time.

Characters & Action

So the devil's sitting in your front yard, or maybe the field nearby. It's probably setting fire to everything and summoning hordes of flies to take over the world. . . or maybe it would just lie down on the ground and much away on some grass? Looking at Vache Rouge, there's a big elephant in the frame — at least, if cows were elephants. The dominating "character" in this piece is very clearly the huge, bright red cow. It seems to simply be lounging about, with the only notable feature being its unusual color; so why am I suggesting it represents the Devil?

For this, we need to step into the historical background of the painting and of Jean Dubuffet himself. I already mentioned World War II. Vache Rouge was painted in 1943, right in the middle of the conflict, and at a time when humanity could see itself at its worst. It would make sense, as a Frenchman, for Dubuffet to have a strong connection to the events of the period, especially the Nazi occupation of France. According to the Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, "Dubuffet responded… to the horrors of the Second World War with a plea for a 'raw, uncivilized art.'" With all this considered, an imposing, red, horned, cloven-hoofed beast as a stand-in for the Devil — the symbol of hatred, destruction, and human sin — appears just right. The cow's wagging tail and stuck-out tongue even make it seem like it's extending an invitation — a temptation, you might say.

Jean Dubuffet at work | Image

Well, if the red cow is the Devil and the horrific, evil tendencies of humans that drove World War II, the man approaching it seems to represent humanity itself, or at least the Europeans at the center of the conflict. He's approaching the cow with intent, seemingly in order to milk it. Bucket in hand, our representative looks not at all apprehensive about the beast; he's readily approaching it. The man, and humanity by extension, appear not as bothered about this symbol of death and destruction as they should be. What with this cow being sat near the man's apparent home, it's likely the man is its caretaker, therefore he is symbolically nurturing destruction.

Iconography

Unlike some other surrealist works, Vache Rouge offers a relatively small number of iconographic elements — not including the already mentioned characters of the man and the cow, I count only four distinct symbols: the palm trees, the bucket, the house, and the footpath. Let's go through each of these briefly.

HOUSE & PATH

As a bright white object against a murky, mostly-dark scene, the house symbolizes a state of peace. But its red roof ties closely with the only other red object — the cow; violence has already invaded the peace. If the house is also the inner state of humanity, that would suggest the violence of the cow is inherent to us or at least has buried itself deep within us. The man necessarily strayed from the path to the "peaceful" house to get to the cow.

PALM TREES

Palm trees are most associated with tropical regions and therefore vacation spots. In contrast to the cow's Devil, they could represent paradise, peace, and virtue, extending the symbolism of the house. In context of the descent into worldwide war and the man's willingness to work with the red cow, it's symbolic that he is turned from and walks away from these trees. Humanity forgoes peace in pursuit of destruction and war.

BUCKET

The empty bucket suggests the man is trying to milk the red cow; that is, he wants to strike up a deal with the Devil. Instead of being averse to this symbol of sin, the man actually gains nourishment from it. The bucket's emptiness could also indicate that this cooperation with destruction is humanity's attempt to fill a certain empty pit within themselves.

In general, the limited symbols present add to the metaphor of humanity's flirt with destruction and violence and abandonment of a state of peace. These seem to express Dubuffet's frustration with World War II's arrival and continuation, a period he views as exposing humanity's inner affinity for sinful behavior akin to that of a devil's.

COmposition & Other Features

Although there's not a great number of symbolic objects, the way Dubuffet arranges these objects in combination with many other elements of art and principles of design have their own significance.

The thing I notice first is the use and distribution of space. After all, there is one very large cow taking up a huge portion of the canvas. The image at the top left shows Vache Rouge with its signature beast cut out. Seeing it this way, it's extra clear just how much real estate the cow took up. In its absence, the painting looks like four separate corners. Symbolically, the sinful cow presented a physical barrier between the man and his peaceful home.

We can also see that even though the massive size of the red cow makes the overall piece feel heavy, it actually contributes a lot to the balance. With the only other major objects placed in the top third of the painting, it feels very top-heavy with the cow gone. Its large, distributed shape makes the whole piece feel more balanced.

The use of negative space is interesting. There is a large amount, for one, at least relative to what is left outside the cow — it feels like a tumultuous blue and green sea and the objects within are islands. The red cow also seems to be tied closely with negative space, as many of its outlines are formed from the same color of paint as the background. As such, standing back to look at the beast, it almost looks like individual "chunks" placed together. This blend into the background may also metaphorically suggest that a destructive nature is inherently woven into the world and humanity.

LINES & TEXTURE

The unique style of the painting struck me immediately as notable. In particular, the unpolished, wild, chaotic linework used throughout the piece really complements the breakdown of values and norms of the World War II period described in the painting. The lines are made of multiple strokes and numerous colors. Similarly, the overall texture of both the lines and the flat color blocks created through messy strokes and scattered specks of paint present the same effect of an uncontrolled landscape.

EYE PATH

The emphasis of the painting is undoubtedly the cow. When looking at this piece, that's almost certainly the first thing you notice. The greatly imbalanced proportions, with a much larger cow and smaller man, draw your eye to the beast — and especially to the head, for me. After that, my eye follows the curve of the animal's body and along its tail up to the man. I notice the small, tucked-away house last. Just like how our eyes are dominated by the Devil cow, Dubuffet's arrangement suggests humans likewise find it difficult to look around the great obstacle and allure of conquest, destruction, and war. The last place you look is a symbol of peace.

The Devil's in the Details

I couldn't go without making that pun. But it's true — all of the many, many components, principles, and symbols of Vache Rouge seem chaotic and disconnected at first, as is the case with many surrealist artworks, but to me, they all contribute to Jean Dubuffet's disillusionment with the state of the world and humanity in the context of World War II. The painting presents a bleak outlook, a perspective on human nature suggesting that we are naturally drawn to the seduction of a Devil and all of its sinful desires, destruction, and mayhem. Looking back at the massive, incredibly deadly conflict of the period, it's difficult to disagree, even if the painting's themes aren't always absolutely true. At certain dire times, it seems people can't help but fall prey to violence and vices. We can only hope making a deal with the red cow doesn't mean completely forfeiting our humanity.

Works Cited:

Dubuffet, Jean. Vache rouge [Red Cow]. 1943. Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Oil on canvas, 72 × 91 cm.

“Surreal Worlds. In Focus: Jean Dubuffet.” Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/surreal-worlds-in-focus-jean-dubuffet/.

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