Bernard Buffet (1928-1999) Nature morte aux pièces d’orfèvrerie, 1963

Oil on canvas signed and dated 1963 lower left
Dimensions: 80 x 129 cm with frame 107 x 156cm

Bernard Buffet was born in 1928 in Paris. He acquired a classical education by taking drawing lessons with Mr. Darfeuille, place des Vosges, then at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the age of 17 he was awarded the prize for studio work. In 1946, he exhibited a self-portrait at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts which presented young talents. The following year, he exhibited "L'homme accoudé" at the Salon des Indépendants, and then had his first exhibition at the Librairie des Impressions d'Art. When he was not yet 20 years old, the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris bought him a work representing a "Still Life with Chicken".

In 1948, he participates in the Prix de la Jeune Peinture organized at the Galerie Drouant-David; he is noticed by Doctor Girardin, a great collector of contemporary art, who will defend his painting. Emmanuel David immediately offers Bernard Buffet an exclusivity contract, a contract that is later shared with Maurice Garnier. Bernard Buffet won many prizes and exhibitions: the Galerie Saint-Placide in Paris, the Prix de la Critique, the Salon d'Automne where he exhibited "La Ramendeuse" de filet. A book was dedicated to him in 1949 by Pierre Descargues.

In 1950, he meets Pierre Bergé and it is the beginning of an important ascent. In 1951, Jean Giono lends him a house in Manosque, in the Alpes de haute Provence. Then Bernard Buffet rents an old sheepfold a few kilometers away, in Nanse near Reillanne, where he will work for 4 years. In 1953, Louis Aragon publishes, in the French Letters, an article entitled "The Landscape has four centuries and Bernard Buffet twenty-four years". The magazine Connaissance des Arts included him in the 10 most important painters of the "Post War". His friend Georges Simenon asked him to collaborate in designing the sets and costumes for "La Chambre". In 1956, he buys the property of "Château l'Arc" near Aix en Provence, which will be his main residence until 1964.

In 1958 the Charpentier gallery organizes the first retrospective of his work in Paris, and Pierre Bergé dedicates a book to him. In 1961, he decorated the Chapel of Château l'Arc with works illustrating the life of Christ. Ten years later, Bernard Buffet also offered a series of religious paintings to the Vatican Museum where they are still on display. In 1964, Maurice Druon also published a book on the artist. The same year, Bernard Buffet acquired "La Vallée", a property in Saint-Cast where he worked until 1970. He then lives between Brittany and Paris. In May 1971, he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

This painting is dated 1963. It is a very good period for Bernard Buffet, both for his personal life and his work. The birth of his daughter Danièle on April 24, 1963, occurred while he was living in his Provençal house which he acquired near Aix en Provence. At the age of 35, Bernard Buffet produces works of great power, worked in full paste. In this superb large size composition, the black flat tints already contrast with the whites, but Bernard Buffet's palette is still vividly colored with exceptional blues and oranges.