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Lot Essay
This work is recorded in the Maurice Garnier Archives.
In February every year, Buffet would exhibit a series of new paintings with his dealers Galerie David et Garnier in Paris. In 1956 he painted a series of views of Paris, comprising almost 20 views of landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Place de La Concorde, Sacre-Coeur and a bird’s eye view of the Tour Saint-Jacques, with the rooftops of Paris beyond. Although these works were typically monochrome, Buffet sometimes used a light blue pigment for rooftops. These works, when exhibited at Galerie David et Garnier as ‘Paysages de Paris’ in February 1957 met with great commercial success.
To build on this success, Buffet would go on over the next few years to paint several series of large scale landscapes of other cities, ‘New York’ in 1958, ‘London’ in 1960. These landscapes maintained the typically monochrome palette, but the New York series introduced some broader swathes of pale pigment in the façades of the skyscrapers of the city, and the views of London introduced bright splashes of pigment, for example bright red boats pictured on the Thames in front of London landmarks including Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
Later in 1960, Buffet decided to return to a small number of Paris scenes, as in the present lot, La Seine et la Tour Saint-Jacques. Here, Buffet has taken a much broader perspective than in the 1956 painting of the Tour Saint-Jacques. The tower is now pictured to the right of the composition, acting as a framing device for the central view of the Seine, with the façades of buildings creating a great sense of depth and perspective at the left side. The light brown façade of the building on the near left is reminiscent of the technique used in the New York series, and the red highlight of the boat at the centre is typical of Buffet’s treatment of boats in the London series. A brighter white pigment has also now been introduced to emphasise certain details – a building façade or the curve of the river embankment. The blue rooftops of the 1956 series remain.
These large scale landscapes of the late 1950s and early 1960s have now become particularly sought-after examples of Buffet’s work, and rarely appear at auction - La Seine et la Tour Saint-Jacques has been in a private collection for almost 25 years.
In February every year, Buffet would exhibit a series of new paintings with his dealers Galerie David et Garnier in Paris. In 1956 he painted a series of views of Paris, comprising almost 20 views of landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Place de La Concorde, Sacre-Coeur and a bird’s eye view of the Tour Saint-Jacques, with the rooftops of Paris beyond. Although these works were typically monochrome, Buffet sometimes used a light blue pigment for rooftops. These works, when exhibited at Galerie David et Garnier as ‘Paysages de Paris’ in February 1957 met with great commercial success.
To build on this success, Buffet would go on over the next few years to paint several series of large scale landscapes of other cities, ‘New York’ in 1958, ‘London’ in 1960. These landscapes maintained the typically monochrome palette, but the New York series introduced some broader swathes of pale pigment in the façades of the skyscrapers of the city, and the views of London introduced bright splashes of pigment, for example bright red boats pictured on the Thames in front of London landmarks including Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
Later in 1960, Buffet decided to return to a small number of Paris scenes, as in the present lot, La Seine et la Tour Saint-Jacques. Here, Buffet has taken a much broader perspective than in the 1956 painting of the Tour Saint-Jacques. The tower is now pictured to the right of the composition, acting as a framing device for the central view of the Seine, with the façades of buildings creating a great sense of depth and perspective at the left side. The light brown façade of the building on the near left is reminiscent of the technique used in the New York series, and the red highlight of the boat at the centre is typical of Buffet’s treatment of boats in the London series. A brighter white pigment has also now been introduced to emphasise certain details – a building façade or the curve of the river embankment. The blue rooftops of the 1956 series remain.
These large scale landscapes of the late 1950s and early 1960s have now become particularly sought-after examples of Buffet’s work, and rarely appear at auction - La Seine et la Tour Saint-Jacques has been in a private collection for almost 25 years.