BERNARD BUFFET 貝爾納・布菲 | LE HAVRE, LE BASSIN DU COMMERCE 勒哈佛爾，貿易港口

Lombrail-Teucquam, Paris, 19 December 1993, Lot 55

Important Private Asian Collection

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巴黎，Lombrail-Teucquam拍賣，1993年12月19日，拍品編號55

亞洲重要私人收藏

Yann Le Pichon, Bernard Buffet 1962-1981, Éditions Maurice Garnier, Lausanne, 1986, no. 753, p. 332

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〈貝爾納・布菲 1962-1981 〉Yann Le Pichon（洛桑，莫里斯・賈尼耶出版，一九八六年），編號753，332頁

Bernard Buffet’s Triumphant 70s

Bernard Buffet is a leading figure in postwar Expressionism. During a period when abstract art was predominant, Buffet remained faithful to a figurative approach, leaving behind an alternative yet crucial track for the European art scene from mid-to late 20th century. Buffet’s works are fierce in brushstrokes and vibrant in color. Whether the work is a portrait, still-life, or landscape painting, dark, the artist used deep black lines to outline depictions of people or objects. His brushstrokes display a decisive and expressive rhythm that was an artistic response to wild cursive calligraphy scripts, and consequently his work generated keen interest from Asian collectors, earning him international renown across Asia and Europe. Among his many loyal collectors, Kiichiro Okano created the world’s first Buffet museum back in 1973. Located in Shizuoka, the museum has been home to this day to more than 1000 Buffet paintings held by Okano. Since autumn 2018 for four consecutive seasons, Sotheby’s Hong Kong’s Modern Art evening sale has presented masterpieces by Bernard Buffet to enthusiastic responses, including Clown, which realized the artist’s the third-highest global sale price, a testament to Buffet’s huge potential in the Asia. Presented in the upcoming season is a classic work from Buffet’s 1970s habour-themed paintings, Le Havre, le bassin du commerce (Lot 1032), a unique landscape symbolizing the artist’s triumphant return after a series of personal peaks and troughs.

In the 1950s, Buffet became one the most popular young artists in France, and a media darling. He enjoyed a wave of postwar triumphs and the fervent adoration across the society carried on until the 1960s, when he met some unexpected reversals. Buffet decided to leave his woes behind in early 1970s and move to Yvelines at the outskirt of Paris with his wife Annabel Buffet and his young children. At Yvelines, they settled into the Villiers Le Mahieu Castle, a historical building with several hundred years’ history. During this tranquil period insulated from conflicts from the external world, Buffet was finally able to break free from the constraints and stress he previously experienced. At the Villiers Le Mahieu Cas, he created a studio where he could focus on his work and look for new subjects to inspire his painting. Le Havre, le bassin du commerce was a work from this period, and it would go on to become a classic piece from his 1970s Harbour series. According to art historian Nicholas Foulkes in Bernard Buffet: The Invention of the Modern Mega-Artist, “He painted the great harbours of France filled with sailing vessels and steamships, creating insanely detailed and painstakingly worked canvases; his library in the chateau was easily able to accommodate large-scale models of yachts and ships from the great days of sail, with mast that towered over his head. He later commented that he ‘had never been happier than when painting the Boat series.”

Buffet’s technique creates a great emotional depth, often leaving a sense of visual contradiction simultaneously lonesome and romantic. This in turn reflects upon the complex, contradictory spirit of postwar society. His Clown series and Torero series are related, and both are classic subjects in his works. In his 1970s Harbour series, on the other hand, Buffet painted the order and grandeur of habour cities, with sailboats docked and poised to embark on great journeys. These harbour paintings are distinct from his works depicting human subjects, perhaps reflecting Buffet’s optimism following his relocation to the countryside. John Sillevis, author of Buffet’s complete collection has the following analysis: “Suddenly everything returned to order and beauty in his series of harbour views...they demonstrate clarity and precision à la Canaletto and a remarkable compositional construction, testifying to an undeniable pleasure in painting…The painter is in full possession of his art and delights in demonstrating his virtuosity.” In 1974, Bernard Buffet became the youngest member ever elected to Académie des Beaux-Arts. The shelter that keeps boats safe from storms in Le Havre, le bassin du commerce echoes with the artist’s own resolve to embark on a new journey. In both his career and in life, Buffet was poised for greater achievements and honor. From such a perspective, the present work holds extraordinary symbolic meaning in context of the artist’s life.

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貝爾納・布菲：七〇年代凱旋歸來

貝爾納・布菲是法國戰後表現主義的領軍人物，在抽象風格泛濫的時代裡，布菲始終忠於具象手法，為二十世紀中後期的歐洲藝壇留下了關鍵的另類軌跡。布菲的筆法凌厲、色彩濃郁，不論是人物、靜物或風景畫，皆以深邃的墨黑線條勾劃對象輪廓，下筆取勢有如呼應著東方狂草書法的筆鋒銳意和奔放韻律，因而引起了亞洲藏家的殷切關注，成功打開橫跨亞、歐板塊的國際知名度；其中來自日本的忠實收藏家岡野喜一郎，早於1973年已在日本靜岡成立了全球第一座布菲美術館，展示其珍藏囊中的逾千件布菲作品，直至現今。自2018年秋季起連續四季，香港蘇富比在現代藝術晚間拍賣所呈獻的布菲精品均獲得了熱烈迴響，當中《小丑》更在去年以逾港幣七百萬創下全球藝術家拍賣記錄第三位，力證布菲在亞洲市場的無限潛力。本季登場之《勒哈佛爾，貿易港口》（拍品編號1032）屬布菲七〇年代的經典港口主題，誠邀藏家共睹象徵著藝術家在經歷過高潮低谷後，凱旋歸來的一幕獨特風景。

五〇年代，貝爾納・布菲是法國最受青睞的年輕藝術家，亦是潮流媒體的寵兒，而這一波洶湧而至的戰後發展奇蹟，以及社會各界的狂熱擁戴，一直延至約六〇年代，卻出現了意想不到的瓶頸。七〇年代初，布菲毅然決定在風高浪急之際，攜同妻子安娜貝爾和年幼子女搬離煩囂，並在巴黎近郊伊夫林定居於擁有數百年歷史的維利耶・勒・馬希厄城堡。在這段與世無爭的歸隱日子裡，布菲終於能夠卸下束縛與壓力，在城堡裡開闢一個工作室潛心創作，發掘嶄新繪畫主題，而《勒哈佛爾，貿易港口》即是誕生於此時，構成了布菲七〇年代「港口系列」的經典呈現。藝術史學者霍爾斯在布菲的傳記《貝爾納・布菲：現代超級藝術家之崛起》裡如此記載：「他畫了一個個泊滿帆船和輪船的法國港口，畫面非常的細緻，留下一幅幅精心製作的畫布。在他的城堡裡，有一個空間廣闊的圖書館，能夠容納象徵大航海時代的巨大遊艇模型，高聳的桅杆甚至比布菲本人還有高。後來，布菲也回憶説：『從來未有過一段比畫《船》系列更高興的時光。』」

布菲擅長以充滿情緒深度的描繪手法，營造一種讓人莫名地感覺孤寂又浪漫的視覺衝突感，從而引發觀者反思戰後社會複雜、矛盾的心理，他的小丑與鬥牛士系列都是相關的典型主題。七〇年代的港口系列，卻表現了海岸城市的秩序與壯觀，開闊的港口裡停泊著一艘又一艘蓄勢待發的帆船，讓觀眾留下與其人物畫截然不同的印象；這或反映了布菲在移居鄉郊堡壘後，對於新生活的種種期盼，而布菲藝術全集的作家約翰・西里維斯則如此分析：「突然之間，一切都恢復了秩序，並在一系列海港景觀中變得美麗……畫中展現了像十八世紀意大利藝術家卡納萊托筆下的清晰度、精確度，以及非凡的構圖；無可否認，藝術家在繪畫時獲得了極大的愉悅……並勇於表現自己的才華。」1974年，貝爾納・布菲獲選為法蘭西藝術院有史以來最年輕的院士，而《勒哈佛爾，貿易港口》的這一幕避風塘景色，正正呼應了藝術家對在事業乃至人生上重新出發的決心，準備往更高成就與榮譽的啟航，如此賞析，本作的象徵意義確實不凡。