Louis Soutter produced the majority of his remarkably rich body of work during his time at the Ballaigues retirement home (Jura) from 1923 until his death. His cousin Le Corbusier, Jean Giono, the Vallotton brothers, and his friends, gathered in the Association of Friends of Soutter, along with gallery owners, publishers, and museum curators, worked to bring his work to light.

In 1945, Jean Dubuffet discovered it thanks to Jean Giono. In an effort to preserve his work, he included Soutter's pieces in his Art Brut collection.

To avoid the assimilation of Louis Soutter's work into Art Brut, Dubuffet specified that he did not want it exhibited alongside Art Brut pieces, as Soutter was too cultured in the arts—through his studies, his work as a drawing and music teacher in the United States, and as a violinist upon his return to Switzerland—to belong to the Art Brut movement.

Louis Soutter's work is featured in all the finest public and private collections.

Louis Soutter is now considered one of the greatest Swiss artists of the first half of the 20th century.