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Lot Essay
This work is recorded in the Maurice Garnier Archives.
Born in 1928, Bernard Buffet attained recognition as a young artist, shortly after his admission to the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-arts at the age of 15. In 1948, after a meeting with Emmanuel David, his first group exhibition would take place, and after that his international career began, leading to his first solo show at the Drouant-David Gallery in 1949. It was only in 1954, when Buffet started to work with Maurice Garnier that their life-long international enterprise began. Before the age of 30, Buffet had had his first retrospective of his work at Galerie Charpentier, and Pierre Bergé and Georges Hourdin published monographs on his work.
In 1957, Bernard Buffet was already spending much of his time with Pierre Bergé near Nanses, at Chateau l’Arc. Both were established social figures by that time. Bergé was not stopped in the street and photographed like a star as Buffet was, but he was in the enviable position of Buffet’s moral supporter and business partner. Castle life seemed to suit them both, nevertheless, and it was there that the pair had been hoping to recapture the intensity of their previous years together at Nanses in the early 1950s. In order to avoid a concentrated closeness despite the strong and mutual affection between the two men, they welcomed a steady stream of guests, including Buffet’s family and old friends like Cocteau or Giono, bringing an increasingly hectic social life to the Chateau l’Arc.
Among Bernard Buffet’s family visitors was Claude Buffet (Bernard Buffet’s older brother) who was often accompanied by his wife Simone and their daughter, Blanche Buffet. Bernard Buffet doted on his niece and gave her the nickname, ‘Kiki’. On the 1st of September 1957, on the occasion of a Sunday visit, Buffet painted for the first time, a stirring, tender series of portraits of her. Kiki is pictured grey-eyed, with her mouth closed and her honey-coloured hair cascading down her shoulders and back. In 1957, Buffet was already working on his monumental Jeanne d’Arc canvasses. In common with this series, Buffet captures in Kiki the little girl’s innocence in a way that is almost vulnerable. As opposed to the fury of the woman warrior whose fate was capture and death, we see in Blanche Buffet, the full kindness and empathy of the artist in his refusal to view her, and those whom he loves, as anything other than perfect in and of themselves.
Born in 1928, Bernard Buffet attained recognition as a young artist, shortly after his admission to the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-arts at the age of 15. In 1948, after a meeting with Emmanuel David, his first group exhibition would take place, and after that his international career began, leading to his first solo show at the Drouant-David Gallery in 1949. It was only in 1954, when Buffet started to work with Maurice Garnier that their life-long international enterprise began. Before the age of 30, Buffet had had his first retrospective of his work at Galerie Charpentier, and Pierre Bergé and Georges Hourdin published monographs on his work.
In 1957, Bernard Buffet was already spending much of his time with Pierre Bergé near Nanses, at Chateau l’Arc. Both were established social figures by that time. Bergé was not stopped in the street and photographed like a star as Buffet was, but he was in the enviable position of Buffet’s moral supporter and business partner. Castle life seemed to suit them both, nevertheless, and it was there that the pair had been hoping to recapture the intensity of their previous years together at Nanses in the early 1950s. In order to avoid a concentrated closeness despite the strong and mutual affection between the two men, they welcomed a steady stream of guests, including Buffet’s family and old friends like Cocteau or Giono, bringing an increasingly hectic social life to the Chateau l’Arc.
Among Bernard Buffet’s family visitors was Claude Buffet (Bernard Buffet’s older brother) who was often accompanied by his wife Simone and their daughter, Blanche Buffet. Bernard Buffet doted on his niece and gave her the nickname, ‘Kiki’. On the 1st of September 1957, on the occasion of a Sunday visit, Buffet painted for the first time, a stirring, tender series of portraits of her. Kiki is pictured grey-eyed, with her mouth closed and her honey-coloured hair cascading down her shoulders and back. In 1957, Buffet was already working on his monumental Jeanne d’Arc canvasses. In common with this series, Buffet captures in Kiki the little girl’s innocence in a way that is almost vulnerable. As opposed to the fury of the woman warrior whose fate was capture and death, we see in Blanche Buffet, the full kindness and empathy of the artist in his refusal to view her, and those whom he loves, as anything other than perfect in and of themselves.