BERNARD BUFFET | Vanité, 1955

signed Bernard Buffet and dated 55 upper right; dedicated A Pierre Bergé, dated Le 28 Sept 1955 and signed Bernard Buffet on the reverse; oil on canvas

Pierre Bergé, Paris (gift from the artist)

Paris, Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint-Laurent
Saint-Rémy de Provence, Musée Estrine, Bernard Buffet, la collection Pierre Bergé, 2018

Jérôme Coignard, Bernard Buffet, Les années 1950, Entretien avec Pierre Bergé, Paris, 2016, no. 81, illustrated p. 138

The canvas is not lined. There is a milky varnish preventing UV light from fully penetrating, however examination under UV light appears to reveal no evidence of retouching. There are a few tiny flecks of paint losses in places, notably in the lower right quadrant (8 cm from right edge and 10 cm from lower edge). There are a few minor thin lines of craquelure, most predominately in the black pigment. There is some frame rubbing with associated of small dots of paint losses along the extreme edges. This work is in overall very good condition.
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The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Galerie Maurice Garnier. Bernard Buffet’s deep knowledge of the history of painting – he often studied at the Louvre – is reflected in his still-lifes and even more so in his Vanités, often inspired by 17th century models. In Vanité painted in 1955, all the key iconographical elements of the genre are present: the skull placed on the table next to a candle and encircled by rosary beads. The yellow background represents the sun and life, the light of Provence that was so dear to the artist, but also passing time, symbolized by the burning candle. The skull and the rosary beads are a reminder of death but also the religious intercession of hope of the hereafter.

1955 was one of the artist’s most important periods of creativity. Bernard Buffet shared an intense relationship with Pierre Bergé to whom this painting is dedicated, and his career was booming. Bergé wrote: "… during these years, I saw him paint, and build his work up. I saw the chrysalis become a butterfly." (Pierre Bergé, "Il avait 21 ans et moi 19", Rétrospective Bernard Buffet, Paris, Musé d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2016-17, p. 97).

Bernard Buffet had finished his large triptych Horreur de la Guerre, exhibited in 1955 at the Drouant-David gallery. The same year Connaissance des Arts magazine published a referendum in which Bernard Buffet was nominated one of the ten best painters since the Liberation of Paris, by 100 personalities from the art world. This painting was thus produced in a period of great success, like a reminder, a Memento Mori, of the ephemerality of earthly things.

Pierre Bergé always kept this painting. At the end of his life it hung in pride of place in the apartment on the rue Bonaparte, alongside his famous collection of Vanités.