Bernard Buffet 1919 ‘l’enfer de Dante’ étude originale
75.000,00€
Bernard Buffet black charcoal and heavy crayon study
‘L’enfer de Dante’ – dated 1976 on reverse
A founding member of the anti-abstraction group L’Homme Témoin (“The Witness-Man”), which also included Bernard Lorjou and André Minaux, French painter and printmaker Bernard Buffet was renowned for austere figurative paintings infused with social critique. Featuring thick, spiky black outlines and a restrained palette, Buffet’s landscapes, portraits, and still lifes were angular and confrontational—a stylistic choice that reflected the alienation and anxiety of his post-war generation. Art history, death, sexuality, politics, and religion were frequent themes throughout his oeuvre. Buffet was a prolific creator, producing around 8,000 artworks during his lifetime. He enjoyed wild success, then a spectacular critical downfall beginning in the 1950s; today, scholars are once again celebrating his legacy.
In 1976, he created a number of studies all refering to Dante Alighieri’s ’la Divina Commedia’. That is a poem in three parts about a journey through the afterlife, from Hell (Inferno), through Purgatory (Purgatorio) to Paradise (Paradiso) and is considered a pinnacle of world literature.
For Bernard Buffet it was ‘obvious’ to concentrate on the Inferno part and so he created 11 study drawings which would serve as samples for a dry point edition in 1977. The 11 drawings were : « Virgile », « Dante », « Damné le Moqueur », « La Harpie », « Figure édenté », « L’Homme à la tête coupée », « Deux damnés », « Angelo », « Tête rejetée en arrière », « Lucifer » et « Tête dans la glace ». The book with the 11 drypoints Dante’s Inferno (l’Enfer de Dante) was edited in 1977 on only 120 copies.
The artwork on sale is the original black charcoil and heavy crayon study ‘Dante’ which served as sample for the drypoint edition
Size : 50 x 36 cm
Unframed – signed lower part right beneath the drawing
Comes with COA from the Rockefeller Plaza Center
Artwork is in excellent condition
Description
Bernard Buffet black charcoal and heavy crayon study
‘L’enfer de Dante’ – dated 1976 on reverse
A founding member of the anti-abstraction group L’Homme Témoin (“The Witness-Man”), which also included Bernard Lorjou and André Minaux, French painter and printmaker Bernard Buffet was renowned for austere figurative paintings infused with social critique. Featuring thick, spiky black outlines and a restrained palette, Buffet’s landscapes, portraits, and still lifes were angular and confrontational—a stylistic choice that reflected the alienation and anxiety of his post-war generation. Art history, death, sexuality, politics, and religion were frequent themes throughout his oeuvre. Buffet was a prolific creator, producing around 8,000 artworks during his lifetime. He enjoyed wild success, then a spectacular critical downfall beginning in the 1950s; today, scholars are once again celebrating his legacy.
In 1976, he created a number of studies all refering to Dante Alighieri’s ’la Divina Commedia’. That is a poem in three parts about a journey through the afterlife, from Hell (Inferno), through Purgatory (Purgatorio) to Paradise (Paradiso) and is considered a pinnacle of world literature.
For Bernard Buffet it was ‘obvious’ to concentrate on the Inferno part and so he created 11 study drawings which would serve as samples for a dry point edition in 1977. The 11 drawings were : « Virgile », « Dante », « Damné le Moqueur », « La Harpie », « Figure édenté », « L’Homme à la tête coupée », « Deux damnés », « Angelo », « Tête rejetée en arrière », « Lucifer » et « Tête dans la glace ». The book with the 11 drypoints Dante’s Inferno (l’Enfer de Dante) was edited in 1977 on only 120 copies.
The artwork on sale is the original black charcoil and heavy crayon study ‘Dante’ which served as sample for the drypoint edition
Size : 50 x 36 cm
Unframed – signed lower part right beneath the drawing
Comes with COA from the Rockefeller Plaza Center
Artwork is in excellent condition
