Bernard Buffet

Galerie David et Garnier, Paris
Private Collection (acquired from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The work is in excellent condition. The canvas has not been lined. The colors are vibrant and the impasto has been very well preserved. The surface is very slightly dirty. There is one original pin hole at each corner. Under UV light: certain original pigments fluoresce but no inpainting is apparent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Despite the genre’s traditional association with tranquility and silence, Buffet’s exuberant still lifes hardly appear inanimate. Nature morte à la bouteille proves no exception, as the objects come alive and reveal a story through Buffet’s mastery of line and color.

As his wife Annabel describes: “Very quickly, you transformed yourself into a witness of the daily life which you sensed. You painted what you had in front of your eyes. Your natures mortes, which we sometimes called pessimistic, are only the true reflections of a helpless era. Your often aloof characters, always painful and so terribly alone, resemble you but also resemble your contemporaries. Through them, you illustrate your gospel, you calm your horrors of war and your turn away from an ever resurrecting human misery. From the Pieta to La Barricade, we find the internal tears which modesty forbad you to shed.  It is this, the painting of truth without complacency, which has rendered you a celebrity. Your sincerity is evident. You have never betrayed it. Never have you diverged from the line which you traced. If the essence of your thinking stayed the same, it did not prevent your oeuvre from evolving both through your mastery of color and ease of draftsmanship” (quoted in Bernard Buffet, Tableaux pour un musée, 1945-1949, Lausanne, 2001, n.p., translated from the French).