Jean Dubuffet mentions his friends from the François 1st high school in his Biographie au pas de course, a work that reminds us that the painter from Le Havre is also the author of an extensive literary legacy.

Dubuffet’s relations with his home city were complicated. The painter often expressed a rejection of Le Havre, as mentioned in a letter to Le Havre poet Jacques Berne, in which he recalls the streets of his childhood, including Juste Viel street. But in other letters to the same writer, he shows some interest for the city. Indeed, Jean Dubuffet finally seemed at peace with Le Havre after the exhibition of his work organised by the city in 1977, partly thanks to his friend Jacques Berne.