Galerie Beyeler, Basel
Stephen Silagy Galleries, Beverly Hills
Edward Small, Los Angeles (acquired from the above by 1958)
A gift from the above in 1977

Yann le Pichon, Bernard Buffet, 1943-1961, Paris, 1986, no. 339, illustrated p. 368

The canvas is not lined and there do not appear to be any signs of retouching visible under UV light. This work is in overall very good condition.
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.

At once a traditional painter and unwitting member of the French avant-garde, Buffet's hand-crafted style and prolific output evoke an off-kilter alternative to the spectacular commercial serialism of Pop. The kind of popularity that burst upon Bernard Buffet as a young painter in the 1950s is quite unparalleled in the twentieth-century visual arts in terms of both its intensity and its broad social reach. Buffet’s art was, as the author Maurice Druon wrote as late as the mid-1960s, “on the street.” It was to be found on the covers of magazines and LPs, on postcards, postage stamps, wall plates, giftwrap and plastic bags. 

Bernard Buffet may well be one of the most controversial artists in recent memory: from the inception of his career to the present day, the artist had been everything from an overnight millionaire, a popstar and an iconoclast to a recluse; his works have been called everything from challenging and Kitsch to taboo to transformative; they have been celebrated, abandoned and celebrated once againꦯ. Yet whether Buffet’s works are loved or hated, it is impossible to ignore the fierce response they evoke. Buffet's oeuvre appears as a parade of graphic adventures through a repertoire of macabre yet contemporary subjects, and his images have a confrontational quality that is brutal yet provocative. Thick slabs of paint are applied through the use of a broad palette knife. Coarse, physical and intense, there is a tension innate in Buffet’s works that ultimately imbue🥂s them with the power to withstand the test of time.