Bernard Buffet

Life and work in postwar France

Bernard Buffet was a French painter, printmaker, illustrator and draftsperson who worked from 1928 to 1999. He built his career in France during the decades following the Second World War, a period when figurative painting competed for attention against the rising tide of abstraction. Buffet aligned himself with Expressionism and existentialism, movements that sought to convey emotional states and the human condition through direct, often stark visual language. His output was prolific across his working life, encompassing paintings, prints, drawings and book illustrations. The Art Institute of Chicago holds works on paper by him dating from the 1950s, including a graphite sketch for The Passion from 1954 and a drypoint print titled Lighthouse. His figurative subjects were rendered in a distinctive linear style that flattened forms and enclosed them within rigid contours, asserting the surface of the canvas or sheet rather than creating illusionistic depth.

Paintings, prints and works on paper

Buffet worked across multiple disciplines, and the market treats each category differently. Paintings on canvas are unique works, and their value depends on size, subject matter and the period in which they were made. Larger canvases command higher estimates than smaller panels, and certain recurring themes in his oeuvre appear more frequently at auction than others. Prints, by contrast, exist as editions. Buffet produced drypoint etchings and lithographs, often in numbered runs, and the size of that edition directly affects value. A print from an edition of fifty holds a different position than one from an edition of three hundred. Works on paper such as drawings and watercolours occupy a middle ground. They are unique, but their scale and the nature of the medium place them below oil paintings in the hierarchy of the saleroom. A graphite sketch or a pen and ink study will typically realise less than a finished canvas of comparable date and subject. Collectors and institutions acquire prints and drawings as entry points into an artist's practice, while paintings represent the primary market for serious collectors.

What a specialist examines when valuing a work

A specialist begins by identifying the medium. Oil on canvas, gouache on paper, lithograph and drypoint each require different approaches to valuation. The period in which the work was made matters, as an artist's output changes over decades and certain phases attract stronger demand. For prints, the edition size and the numbering are essential. A print marked as number twelve from an edition of fifty is documented; an unnumbered impression raises questions. The signature must be examined for placement, medium and consistency with known examples. Condition affects value significantly. Tears, staining, fading, losses to the paint surface or foxing on paper all reduce what a work will realise. Provenance, meaning the documented history of ownership, adds confidence when it exists. A work that has passed through a known collection or been exhibited in a museum carries more weight than one with no history. Any labels, stamps or inscriptions on the reverse of a canvas or in the margins of a print are recorded, as they may indicate a gallery, framer or previous auction house.

Sales at this auction house

This auction house has offered five works by Bernard Buffet, of which one sold. The single realised price was 3092 euros. That figure represents the total outcome for this artist at this house, and no median or range can be calculated from a sample of one. The four unsold lots indicate that reserves were not met or that bidding did not reach the level required for a sale. A sample this small does not permit conclusions about the artist's wider market or the performance of particular media or periods. It records only what has taken place in this saleroom. Sellers considering consignment should understand that past results here are limited, and that a valuation will depend on the specific work presented, not on a pattern of sales.

Preparing a valuation request

A seller should provide clear photographs of the front of the work, showing the entire composition in even light without glare. A photograph of the back of a canvas or the reverse of a framed work on paper is necessary, as it may reveal labels, stamps, inscriptions or structural information. Any signature, whether on the front or back, should be photographed separately in detail. If the work is a print, the margins must be visible, as edition numbers and signatures typically appear there. Dimensions are required, given in centimetres, and should state height before width. For works on canvas, specify whether the measurement includes the frame. Any documentation should be copied and sent with the request: receipts, certificates, exhibition history, previous appraisals or correspondence with galleries. This material allows a specialist to assess the work efficiently and provide an accurate estimate.