"Our love was born in Saint-Tropez... I know why I love trees and the boat masts..." ─ Annabel Buffet, Saint-Tropez d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, 1981

The representative master of French post-war figurative art, Bernard Buffet (1928-1999), undoubtedly sustains an important domain in art history, is well renowned in Asia and reaches a global scale of collectors, making him acknowledged as the iconic artist. The young and talented Buffet was named as the best out of the top ten post war artists by “Connaissance des Arts”, in 1955, he was only 27 years old then. In 1974, at the age of 46 years old, he became an member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He created more than 8,000 works in his life, his amazing creative power has assuredly left a series of classic works.
“Painting, we do not talk about it, we do not analyse it, we feel it.” ─ Bernard Buffet

Born in Paris in 1928, he grew up on the coast of Brittany and has always been fond of biology. The delicate and sensitive Bernard Buffet although encountered difficulties while pursuing academic, cannot stop others from discovering his outstanding artistic talent.When he was young, he was already full of talents, and his reputation has already been widespread in the 1950s. The themes he chosen often are related to the character or environment he is familiar with, or the paintings of ancient masters. Precisely because of his childhood spent on the west coast of France, Brittany, the endless summers there he spent with his mother. The love of nature has contributed to the continuous depiction of the coasts and harbours of France throughout his life. Most of his creations are in series, with repeated subjects, characters, imagery and themes, such as urban architecture in greyish tone, desolate flower and still life, clowns and toreadors. The paintings of Buffet outlined with black lines have such a strong personal and epoch style, have always been able to shock the inner hearts of the viewers. Many artists, including Taiwan predecessor painter Shiy Dejinn, have been profoundly influenced by him. Japanese collectors even accredited him as the paramount religion of French art and built an art museum for him. He skillfully integrated modern painting with traditional techniques, deeply described the sorrow and suffering after the war.

Feel the authenticity of the era, the Southern French style of Bernard Buffet

The unique scenery of southern France has a long-standing reputation and has always been remarkably attractive to many artists. Buffet also utilized his distinctive expression to depict the charming style of the French Riviera. This “Saint Tropez Le Port” was made in 1993, though was painted in his late stage, Buffet is still attracted by the abundant enchantment of Saint Tropez. It claims to have the most beautiful beach in France, is also a place where celebrity and those who loves sea, history, art and cultural heritage must pay tribute with visit. Nicknamed as the “Sun City”, one can tell how splendid is the sun here. Saint Tropez is also an ancient art city, at the beginning of the 20th century, artists including painters and writers gathered to become a coveted art scene.

his friend Annabel Schwob to Bernard Buffet, they fell madly in love with each other, Annabel became his muse. The region Saint Tropez also inspired many of their artistic creations.The pleasant harbour and the famous Senequier Cafe located in the heart of port can be clearly seen in this work of “Saint Tropez Le Port”. Strolling around the harbour in the morning is Buffet’s most favorite time, he often enjoys a cup of coffee at the cafe Senequier, looking at visitors wandering around the pier, with luxury yachts docking, building up an expectation of might be meeting any famous movie stars. With precise and neat brushstrokes, Buffet captures the most beautiful point of view out of this scenery from his eyes, instead of the usual greyish hue, he adopted the rare bright colors, such as the mesmerizing blue sky of southern France, the vivid contrast of red and white for the Senequier Cafe, the brick walls in pinkish orange, not to forget the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption and the greenery from the mountains in the far distance. All the intertwined colors fully demonstrate his superb southern French style. “Saint Tropez Le Port” projects his state of mind during creation, which is completely at ease and away from the turbulent annoying, both the captivating blue ocean and sky enrich him with a surging mood of joy.

Over viewing across the seascape works by Buffet, the works with the southern French resort as the background are the most popular and are clearly the most favourite by many private collectors. He made several small scale watercolors depicting the port in Saint Tropez, yet there are only two important museum-level large-scale oil paintings, both are in the same size and theme, one “Le Port de Saint Tropez” which is currently in the collection of Musée Bernard Buffet. While the other “Saint Tropez Le Port” is proudly presented in this autumn auction. It is an iconic masterpiece assembling the charming southern French style in the port of Saint Tropez. This work is originated from an American collection and is now presented in auction for the first time, definitely is the once in a lifetime opportunity for top collectors.