French artist Bernard Buffet was a representative master of post-war figurative art, which flourished during the era of transition to contemporary art. Highly regarded by art historians, Buffet's works are prized by collectors globally, making him a widely recognized world-class artist. After a lull of nearly two decades, Buffet's paintings have been well-received at global auctions in recent years. Citing his potential, many experts are recommending Buffet as a landmark artist on the same level as Picasso, Dalí, Chagall and other important members of the School of Paris for collectors seeking fine works.

Buffet painted Château de l'Arc in 1963. Built in the 17th century and situated in the Provence region of southern France close to Marseille, Château de l'Arc became the artist's main residence in 1956. In 1958, at the age of 30, the artist held his first retrospective exhibit at the Charpentier Gallery. After parting with Pierre Bergé in the summer, Buffet fell in love and married writer and actress Annabel Schwob in December of the same year. Until 1964, several of Buffet's representative works were created away from the hustle and bustle of Paris, and surrounded by the forests and gardens of Château de l'Arc. For example, his Christ series of paintings was later dedicated to Pope Paul VI and exhibited in the Vatican Museum. The pleasant setting of his homestead became a holiday attraction for his friends in the art circle, including Pierre-Yves Saint-Laurent and François Sagan.

Buffet was an artistic genius whose talent emerged early in his life. His thorough academic art training helped shaped the diversity and integrity of his artistic life. During WWII when he studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris, he lingered in the Louvre Museum to observe and analyze the great works by classical masters, such as Rembrandt, Courbet, David, and Delacroix. Buffet appreciated deeply the works of the Fauvists: Vlaminck's painting (Lot 047). He once even visited Vlaminck at his countryside residence. In 1946, Buffet's unique individual style garnered attention with his first exhibition at The Salon of Artists Under Thirty Years Old (Salon des moins de trente ans) along with several other artists including Georges Mathieu (Lot 018), who is considered the father of European lyrical abstraction. In 1948, Buffet shot to fame after winning the highest honors in the Critic's Prize (Prix de la Critique), drawing attention at the Young Painting Prize (Prix de la Jeune Peinture). Buffet's talent and ability quickly attracted the interest of many well-known collectors and art dealers.

The Asian collector's circle is not unfamiliar with Buffet's works. As early as the 1980's, through frequent economic exchanges and swept by Buffet's popularity in Japan, Taiwan art dealers and galleries began introducing the artist's prints and original works. In 1976, Bernard Buffet Museum was established in Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture by private collector Kiichiro Okano. In 1996, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan hosted a“Buffet Retrospective Exhibition”. Buffet's global popularity and groundbreaking artistic style have had an impact on artists after him. For example, Taiwan artist Shiy De-Jinn imitated Buffet's style and often used black lines to outline the characteristics of object shapes. Common elements between Buffet's creativity and eastern culture also facilitated the acceptance of Buffet's works by the Asian public.

Château de l'Arc also serves as a symbol of Buffett's private life. In 1963, Buffet's youngest daughter (Danielle) was born. As a result of lifestyle changes, the artist's creative theme revolved around family, whether it was family portraits, household items or depiction of his natural surroundings. His techniques also evolved compared to his 1950 works of architectural landscape (reference Lot 049). The overall layout of Château de l'Arc features a perspective of the structure from afar, with two sky-reaching Italian stone pines in the front occupying the up-close perspective with thick black ink. Proportionally, the chateau seems rather small, but the artist cleverly left the light to the chateau and skimped on architectural splendor. The exterior walls reflect the bright green grassy ground while the warm sunset scatters on the roof. Where the sky meets the ground, the warm image of“home” is apparent.

Bashful by nature, Buffet had stated that painting served as both his language and avenue of communication with the outside world. However, French society at the time only placed value on abstract art, which was quite a blow to Buffet's insistence on figurative art expression. At one point, he closed himself off in his studio working day and night, producing a rich and bountiful amount of work. Creativity helped him find spiritual peace and freedom to alleviate the depressive state of being undervalued.“Painting, we do not talk about it, we do not analyze it, we feel it.” (La peinture, on n'en parle pas, on ne l'analyse pas, on la sent.) Buffet's motto encourages the public to embrace art emotionally and profoundly, to open their hearts and experience in detail the spiritual feedback of art. It has been 20 years since Buffet's death, when he bid farewell to the world, unable to work due to illness. Nevertheless, this artistic giant had been granted a form of immortality, continuing to flower and bear fruit, enriching human history.