Impressionismus & Moderne Lot 3201 – 3317 Freitag, 23. Juni 2023, 16.30 Uhr

3289 BERNARD BUFFET (Paris 1928–1999 Tourtour) Environs du Quesnoy. 1962. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated upper right: Bernard Buffet 62. Titled and inscribed on the reverse: environ du Quesnoy / Nord / France. 89 × 116 cm. The work is registered in the archives of the Galerie Maurice Garnier. Provenance: - Auction Kohn, Geneva, 21.5.1998, lot 198. - Private collection Paris. - Galerie Louvre des Antiquaires, Paris. - Private collection, Geneva, acquired from the above gallery circa 2000. Although the large-format painting is titled 'Surroundings of Quesnoy' on the reverse, it is not the countryside of the idyllic little town of Le Quesnoy, some 200 kilometres north of Paris, that is at the focus of the painting, but, as so often in Bernard Buffet's work, the architecture. Here, a house and a bridge are captured on canvas with strong black horizontals and verticals. Even the bush next to the house is not pretty, but rather reminiscent of a lava-spewing volcano, with its many black specks reflected in the water. The muted red of the brick buildings typical of the north is transformed in Buffet's painting into a rich, vibrant red, which makes it particularly attractive. CHF 70 000 / 100 000 (€ 71 430 / 102 040) | 102 Impressionist & Modern Art