Bernard Buffet (1928 -1999)

The train of waves at the point of Poulains, 1991 Oil on canvas, signed and dated upper left, titled, stamped Maurice Garnier and noted MG on reverse 81.5 x 116 cm - 31 7 / 8 x 45 2 / 3 in. A certificate of authenticity written by Galerie Maurice Garnier dated December 4, 2012 will be given to the buyer. BIBLIOGRAPHY HARAMBOURG Lydia, Bernard Buffet et la Bretagne, Editions Palantines, p123 repr. Bonjour Monsieur Buffet, catalog of the exhibition at the Musée Courbet, Ornans, Summer 1993, n° 53 repr. EXHIBITION Bonjour Monsieur Buffet, Musée Courbet, Ornans, Summer 1993, n° 53  Chapelle Jeanne D'Arc, Thouars (Deux Sèvres), 1994 "The Fonds de Dotation Bernard Buffet was created in July 2009 by Ida and Maurice Garnier. They donated 234 oil paintings, 41 mixed media and 36 drawings to the Endowment Fund, which will constitute the collection of a future Bernard Buffet Museum. In addition, to ensure the functioning of this Endowment Fund, Ida and Maurice Garnier donated oil paintings and mixed media for sale. PROVENANCE Collection of the Bernard Buffet Endowment Fund (according to a label on the back) Private collection, France BERNARD BUFFET Bernard Buffet (1928-1999) is considered as one of the major French painters of the 20th cen - tury. Very early, he benefited from the public’s infatuation, but was also criticized by the press. The journalists seized on his image, which oscil - lated 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 begin - ning of Bernard Buffet’s collaboration with the gallery owner Maurice Garnier, who exhibited and defended his work during his lifetime. From 1956 onwards, the artist enriched his style, which was previously characterised by dark colours, reflecting the post-war period. The nervous graphics and sharp writing remained, but the compositions, with their reduced to - nalities, were enriched by brilliant colour. The brushstroke gives way to a thick, heavy paste that can form drips reminiscent of gestural abstraction. Brittany, where Bernard Buffet lived during his youth, has never ceased to accompany his pic - torial journey. Its ports, the aridity of its coastal landscapes, the wild nature and the immensity of the sea remain in his imagination throughout his life. Even when he is far away, these land - scapes constitute a source from which he will always draw. It is this emotional memory that is at work in Le train de vagues à la pointe des Poulains painted in 1991. Bernard Buffet uses a broad style and dynamic brushstrokes to sculpt the waves and represent the sea in perpetual evolution. The foreground pushes and expands the depth to the horizon line where a slight clearing in the cloudy sky brings light to the painting and infuse it with mysticism. Here he combines two aesthetic approaches that are dear to him: the sharp line - especially in the outlines of the lighthouse and the signature – and the expressive material. At the end of the 1980s, Bernard Buffet’s interest in the sea and in Brittany was more than ever present. In 1989, he painted a monumental ensemble "Vingt mille lieues sous les mers" based on the novel by Jules Verne, in which he raised Captain Nemo to the level of Dante. In 1990, he exhibited at the Galerie Maurice Garnier for "La Bretagne" exhibition. Rarely has the artist painted in such an expres - sionist – almost lyrical – way as in Le train de vagues à la pointe des Poulains, part of a series begun in the 1990s. Bernard Buffet will deliver timeless representations of Brittany, where the wild and primitive sea will find its accomplished form in his last painting Tempête en Bretagne painted in 1999. The work we are presenting today is the calm before this last storm. 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."