Bernard BUFFET (1928 - 1999)

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Lot n° 14
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Estimation :
300000 - 400000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 360 000EUR
Bernard BUFFET (1928 - 1999)
Clown fond jaune, 1966 Oil on canvas, signed and dated on the left part, bearing the Galerie David et Garnier stamp on reverse 65 x 54 cm 25 19/32 x 21 17/64 in. Bernard Buffet Bernard Buffet is considered one of the major painters of the 20th century in France. Benefiting from the public's enthusiasm very early on, he was also criticized. The press seized on his image, which oscillated between "painter of the misery of young people after the war" and "millionaire painter of misery". In the mid-1950s, he frequented the artistic and nightlife scene in Saint-Germain des Prés, which included Françoise Sagan and the existentialists. These years marked the beginning of Bernard Buffet's collaboration with the gallery owner Maurice Garnier, who exhibited and defended his work throughout his life. From 1956 on, the artist enriched his style which was previously characterized by dark colors, reflecting the post-war period. Nervous graphics and sharp writing remain, but the compositions with reduced tones are embellished with a brilliant color. The brushstroke thickens to give way to a thick paste that can form drips reminiscent of gestural abstraction. Brittany, where Bernard Buffet lived during part of his adolescence, has never ceased to accompany his pictorial journey. Its ports, the aridity of its coastal landscapes, the wild nature and the immensity of the sea remained in his imagination throughout his life. Even when far away, these landscapes will constitute a source from which he will always draw. Interview with Le Figaro, 29 September 1992. How do you know if a painting is good? (...) The specialists, the curators or the critics must see it for themselves? "The curators and critics hate me. They think I always do the same thing. But do we reproach Bach for writing the same piece of music, Greco for always being the same, Céline for being identical to himself? (...) When I was young, I perhaps had a romantic side, I defied life with death without being aware of it. Today, as I grow older, without really wanting to, I provoke death with life. I need colour. (...) My paintings were made by my hands, those of a worker, those of a man to be taken by other men’s hands. They are objects of desire, of pleasure, and why not of quarrel. Intellectualism has killed the spiritual and the sensitive." Bernard Buffet is an essential multidisciplinary artist of the 20th century. A post-war figurative artist, he was very quickly acclaimed by the public, who placed him in the line of great artists such as Matisse and Picasso. Described as a genius of painting by dealers and collectors, his pictorial production sold very quickly throughout the world. Admired by some from his early days, he did not attract the love of all. In the mid-1950s, he frequented the artistic and nightlife scene in Saint-Germain des Prés, which included Françoise Sagan and the existentialists. These years marked the beginning of Bernard Buffet's collaboration with the gallery owner Maurice Garnier, who exhibited and defended his work all his life. From 1956 on, the artist enriched his style which was previously characterized by dark colors, reflecting the post-war period. Nervous graphics and sharp writing remain but the compositions with reduced tones are enhanced by a brilliant color. The brushstroke thickens to give way to a thick, heavy paste that can form drips reminiscent of gestural abstraction. A recurring motif in Bernard Buffet's paintings, the clown is one of his mythical works, and is undoubtedly his most sought-after subject today. All the strength of the clown lies in the extraordinary presence of his gaze, planted in the center of the canvas. Impressive at first glance, the portrait absorbs the viewer's gaze and initiates a silent, almost ironic conversation. The clown has his own mood, with which the viewer must deal. “Painting, we do not talk about it, we do not analyze it, we feel it” – Bernard Buffet
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