Beschreibung:

Terre Neuvas, village. Huile sur toile 89 x 130 cm (35 x 51 in.). Signé et daté 66, cachet au dos de David et Garnier Certificat d'authenticité de Maurice et Ida Garnier accompagne l'oeuvre Ce lot est vendu en importation temporaire. Terre Neuvas, Village oil on canvas 89 x 130 cm (35 x 51 in.) signed and dated ?66', stamped by ?David et Garnier' on the reverse Accompanied by certificate of authenticity by Maurice & Ida Garnier Bernard Buffet was a French Miserabilist (French Expressionist) painter. His work consists mainly of landscapes, portraits and still lives but he is better known through his paintings of clowns. For a long time considered an artistic outcast due to the enmity of Picasso and Andre Malraux, his works, which have a distinctive edgy linear quality, have always remained loved by the wider public. Throughout his life Buffet struggled with depression but he continued to paint remaining aloft from his critics and creating a corpus of works which is heralded today as representing one of the clearer voices of the post-war French figurative experience. The tragic-comic figures of the clown and other circus characters are a recurring theme in Buffet's art. Tête de clown fond jaune from 1989 is a typical work in this theme. Depicting a gloomy red and green masked young man, the clown-figure is represented in the white circular collar of the sad Piero. Onto the mask of the clown Buffet projected the angst-ridden mood of the post-war French society he mixed in, populated with characters like Sartre and Juliette Greco. Mad women, bull fights, Joan of Arc, most of the subjects he chose were reflective of the philosophical code of a France "qui n'a pas la pêche" (literally- "those who lack energy" (or motivation to work). The modern red wig of the clown breaks the dim mood of the painting, to allow above it the cynical pasting of the date and signature of the painter which shows a somewhat more decisive affront to life. ?Terras Nuevas' from 1966 is a characteristic painting of the artist's Mirabilist style. Painted in somber black and gray colors, Buffet would seem to have wanted to recreate in this painting the look of an old postcard or photo of the famous whaling ship. The ship known because of the tragic ending of Robert Scott's expedition to Antarctica, is shown in its full majesty taking almost the full length of the work. But unlike photos from the early 20th century she is not shown breaking through glaciers but as sliding beside village houses, as if the artist wanted to ?mute' its grandeur because it was not consonant with the mirabilist ?laisez faire' outlook. Intrigued by the ships look he none the less depicts every detail of masts and sails in quick and dense black lines that resemble charcoal streaks. These create a somewhat disturbing atmosphere that has sinister undertones not dissimilar to that of the gloomy-looking clown. But the full impression given by the work is not only that we have before us a painting depicted in a unique style but that it's style although being particular discomforting has a particular beauty as if the artist wanted to communicate to us his struggle with depression. On sale are also two beautiful still life paintings. In the early La cafetière jaune from 1955 we can admire Buffet's graphic qualities. The artist masterfully plays between the use of bold heavy lines delineating the objects, areas of cross hatching and randomly childishly rendered thin masses of lines which run across the painting. These would seem to serve not only as a technical device to enliven the painting with the movement of the lines but for decorative means for they join the decorative flower pattern of the wall behind. A certain playfulness, which one would not associate with the Miserabilist view, is seen also in the contrast between the awkward looking voluminous teapot and the delicate flowers at the back. The pot looks so ill-fitting that it would seem to be taken directly out of Alice in Wonderland