Bernard Buffet (1928-1999)
Lot 151

Bernard Buffet (1928-1999)

Le pont de Tancarville

Closed19 September 2019

Price Realised

GBP 125,000

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Bernard Buffet (1928-1999)
Le pont de Tancarville
signed and dated 'Bernard Buffet 67' (upper left)
oil on canvas
80.8 x 129.8 cm. (31 ¾ x 51 1/8 in.)
Painted in 1967

Private collection, by whom acquired circa 2000.
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, where acquired, 23 June 2011, lot 213.

Specialist note

This work is recorded in the Maurice Garnier Archives.
Bernard Buffet was a French painter who found his artistic voice between the 1940s and the 1950s. Through his figurative paintings, he elaborated a unique style of expression, characterised by strong, angular black outlines and flat colours. Buffet started his career in 1943, enrolling at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. Promoted by the enthusiastic art critic Pierre Descargues, Buffet obtained his first personal exhibition in 1947. On that occasion the Musée National d'Art Moderne of Paris bought the painting Nature morte au poulet for its collection.
The distinctive style of Buffet's works gained him a wide success and from the early 1950s onwards, he became a regular and important presence in the Parisian and international art scene, often presenting his works grouped in thematic series. Thanks to the graphic quality of his style, Buffet also illustrated numerous literary works throughout his career and designed the stage sets of several operas and ballet productions. In 1971 the French State awarded Buffet the Légion d'Honneur and in 1974 the painter was elected member to the Académie des Beaux-Arts.