Bernard Buffet

Galerie David et Garnier, Paris
Acquired in the 1970s

Work is in excellent condition. Canvas is not lined. There is some thin stable craquelure toward the upper left corner. A rich impasto is well preserved. Under UV light, no inpainting is apparent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Bernard Buffet was only eighteen years old when he exhibited his first work, a self portrait, at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The show placed Buffet in the spotlight, where he would remain for the rest of his life. For an artist who would spend the next fifty-three years in the public eye, entertaining his public not only with his artwork but with his persona of a brilliant and complex artiste, direct self portraits in his art of the 1960s onward are surprisingly rare. Around 1955, paintings of clowns appear in Buffet’s work. Arguably the most important subject for the artist, the clown remained a consistent preoccupation in each decade of his career, even in the last year of his life. Equal parts cheerful and disturbing, these tragically comic images embody the dual aesthetic of Buffet's oeuvre. The present work, from 1968, is a striking example from his most protean and important period of work. Indeed, the clown may easily be understood to be an avatar for Buffet himself.

The theatrical clown’s roots lie in both classical Greek theater and in the medieval court jester, who, under the guise of entertainment, could safely make fun of the lord and thus reveal the fallible man behind the regal mask. Shakespeare also drew on this tradition, endowing his jesters with scenes of high buffoonery we well as richly profound observations on the complexities and truths of human existence. Picasso, like Buffet, used such figures to the same end, employing actors from the Commedia dell’arte as surrogates for himself and his circle of immediate friends.



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Galerie Maurice Garnier.