• Hidden is delighted to offer the outstanding opportunity to purchase an original, hand-signed lithograph by one of Modern art's most extraordinary figures - Bernard Buffet. Prints and paintings by this one-of-a-kind subversive, who redefined Expressionism with his divisive figurative works, are held across the world's most significant galleries and museums. His highly collectible works on paper have a dedicated market and are an essential addition to any serious collection of 20th century art.

  • Who was the revolutionary that made seasoned masters quake in their boots?

    Who was the revolutionary that made seasoned masters quake in their boots?

    Bernand Buffet was a French artist, world-famous for his profoundly fierce paintings and prints. In the mid-20th century when he was just in his twenties, he enjoyed such unparalleled early success that his meteoric rise to fame bruised the egos of envious great masters such as Picasso.

     

    Buffet became internationally celebrated for his angular compositions, defined by their thick black lines, elongated forms, aggressive draughtsmanship and a lack of depth of field. Abstraction was the prevailing trend in modern painting while Buffet was starting out, but he established himself as a unique voice by strictly creating figurative artworks. He soon became one of the most distinct pioneers of Expressionism and Miserabilism through his landscapes, portraits and still-lifes. His austere treatment of his subjects was inspired by the aftermath of World War II, and he prioritised emotional over analytical responses to his work.

     

    His immense talent propelled him to the fore of the Parisian art scene and there was at least one major exhibition dedicated to his work each year throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Buffet won the prestigious Prix de Critique at twenty and was declared one of “France’s Fabulous Young Five" by the New York Times at thirty. He was incredibly prolific and had produced more paintings by the age of twenty-six than Renoir had in his entire lifetime.

  • Because of his success, Buffet was often likened to Picasso. This same success also attracted disdain from the very master himself, who is reported to have visited Buffet’s exhibitions just to openly criticise his art. Picasso contributed to a public backlash against Buffet’s work along with André Malraux, the powerful French Minister of Culture. By the end of the decade, public and critical taste had turned against him.

     

    In the 21st century, Buffet has enjoyed a huge resurgence of interest, especially when he was the subject of a major retrospective at Paris's Musée d’Art Moderne in 2016. In 2015, he also achieved a new auction record of £1,022,500 when his 1991 painting Les Clowns Musiciens, le Saxophoniste sold at Christie's in London. His work is in increasingly high demand as contemporary audiences flock to revisit his particularly fascinating chapter of art history.

  • Amongst his most desirable artworks are his stunning and endlessly inventive prints, which are available for purchase at a fraction of the cost of his record-breaking paintings. His work as a printmaker allowed him to experiment with line and tone in ways that complimented his prodigious output as a painter.

     

    Still life would remain an enduring obsession throughout his career and Hidden's latest acquisition, his late print La Cafetière Rouge, is a fabulous example of some of his most sought-after imagery.

     

     

    Signed and numbered in pencil
    Lithograph in colours on Arches paper laid down
    Sheet: 75.9 x 57.8 cm
    Edition of 125 plus 25 AP
     
    £ 2,250
  • Are you interested in adding a Buffet to your collection? Get in touch with the team today to secure one of our most stunning 20th century acquisitions to date.
     
    Enquire now

     

     

  • Looking for more inspiration?