"La peinture, on n'en parle pas, on ne l'analyse pas, on la sent" (freely translated "You don’t talk about paintings, you don’t analyze them, you feel them) - the words are Bernard Buffets own and describes how he wanted the viewer to approach his works. Whether he painted landscapes, still lifes or portraits, there is a direct and provocative tone that forces the viewer to be confronted with reality.
The most significant works in the Buffet’s production are considered to have been made between 1945-65 and from this period is also the auction's work entitled "Le poissonnier".
In the French art scene after 1945, Bernard Buffet was something of an "enfant terrible" - he achieved great commercial success very early, already in his 20s, partly thanks to his lifelong friendship with the gallery owner Maurice Garnier.
The audience liked his brutal neo-realism and craftsmanship, but the French critics were not as convinced or impressed. The magazine Der Spiegel once described Bernard Buffet as "the man with the golden hand who became the most mocked and insulted of the 20th century, a pariah among critics". However, this did not prevent him from being named No. 1 by the "10 Most Outstanding Post-War Artists" in 1955 after a vote compiled by the magazine "Connaissance des Arts". He was elected to the L’Academie des Beaux Arts in 1974 and received several significant awards during his lifetime, including the Chevalier de la legion d’Honneur.
Buffet's artistic life was successful, but his life had a tragic and dramatic outcome. From the late 1990s he suffered from Parkinson's disease, which gradually impaired his ability to draw and paint. When the disease finally made him unable to work, he took his own life on 4 October 1999 in his studio located in the Domaine de la Baume near the town of Tourtour.
The auctions work has previously been in film director Jean Negulesco's collections. Negulesco had a collection of several works by the artist and was also portrayed by the artist.