Galerie Maurice Garnier, Paris
Opera Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above 

This work is in excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. The work bears extremely rich and textured impasto. There are artist's pinholes at all four corners of the canvas, and at the center of the top and bottom edges. Under UV light: numerous pigments fluoresce, all appear original.
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.

Buffet’s instantly recognizable style and prolific output contribute to the fierce response his work has garnered over the years, and the present work is a wonderful example of the artist at the height of his powers. The genre of still life proved a subject of predilection for the artist and throughout his career Buffet produced dozens of variations on the theme of flowers in a vase, instilling a unique exuberance and verve into a subject that is most often associated with silence and immobility. The energy and vigor with which he depicts floral scenes such as the present work moreover reflect Buffet’s evident delight in the beauty of the natural world and perhaps a latent desire to escape the humdrum of everyday urban life. Buffet's wife Annabel wrote of his distaste for the surroundings of his Parisian upbringing and his attraction to rural life: “Born in Paris, and brought up by a loving mother in a small apartment, he could escape the concrete and stone only during those brief breaks from school… As soon as he was old enough to choose, he fled the crowds, the noise, the agitation of the city that suffocated him” (Annabel Buffet, Bernard Buffet: Paris (exhibition catalogue), Galerie Taménaga, New York, 1989, n.p.).