The representative master of French post-war figurative art, Bernard Buffet (1928-1999), undoubtedly sustains an important domain in art history, is well renowned in Asia and reaches a global scale of collectors, making him acknowledged as the iconic artist. The young and talented Buffet was named as the best out of the top ten post war artists by “Connaissance des Arts”, in 1955, he was only 27 years old then. In 1974, at the age of 46 years old, he became the youngest member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He created more than 8,000 works in his life, his amazing creative power has assuredly left a series of classic works.

Buffet spent his childhood on the west coast of France, Brittany, the summer time there he spent with his mother. The lifelong love of nature has inspired his continuous creation of depicting coasts and harbours across France. In 1948, the talented Buffet met Pierre Bergé, Bergé helped Buffett to reach the pinnacle of his career before the age of 30, and painted many of his famous masterpieces in their 8 years together. In the 1950s, Buffet was the most popular young artist in France and the darling of the media. His premature fame brought not only money and fame, but also bottleneck in his career. After breaking up with Bergé in 1958, Buffet went to Saint Tropez, South France for a holiday, and met Annabel Schwob, a model and writer and get married soon after. In the early 1970s, Buffet decided to move away from the hustle and bustle with his wife Annabel. During this uncontested period, he was then able to relieve the pressure and devote himself to creating in the studio. This spring presents “Doëlan la Plage”, which is his classic port theme in the 70s, showing his love for nature and an enlightened state of mind.

"He painted French ports full of sailboats and ships, the paintings are very detailed, leaving behind meticulously crafted canvas one after another. In his castle, there is a spacious library that can accommodate a huge yacht model, which is so symbolic to the great nautical era, the towering mast is even taller than Buffet himself. He himself later recalled “There has never been a happier time than painting the "Ship" series.” "─ Nick Foulkes on Bernard Buffet: The Invention of the Modern Mega-Artist

“Doëlan la Plage” was indeed made in this time, from 1973 to 1975, Buffet created a series of works with themes of ships and warm landscape, suffusing with his "golden colors”. The excellent and unique layout of light awakes viewers to the pastoral poetry align with the École de Pont-Aven. The brushstrokes with the sense of full speed, where the expressive lines are overflowing and present the classic style of the artist. Throughout the past and present, not one single artist has been able to stroke lines with such solid black lines. The charming country cottages and white houses on the riverbank are layered by the alternate red and blue boats. The work itself clearly is the fond memory of the artist's beautiful artistic conception.

In the eyes of everyone, Buffet's life is undoubtedly rich and wonderful. He was born in the era with the rise of abstraction but devoted himself to creating figurative art, he was destined to face various obstacles. At that time, the art world generally regarded Picasso’s abstract art as the future of French art, while Buffet’s figurative art was a retrospect of the past art world. Buffet entered the art world as a bright and promising new star, his fame is fiercely hot for a while, yet later was relegated as symbol of the middle class's excessive commercialization of the past. These experiences have therefore created his dramatic life story. At the age of 15, he entered the renowned National School of the Fine Arts (École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts) and trained as an intern in the studio of the painter Eugène Narbonne when he was still studying. He once joined the anti-abstract art group L'homme Témoin (the Witness-Man), when abstraction began to dominate the art circle, he strongly supported the art of expressionism. His creation throughout his artistic career is astonishing, with more than 8,000 works. In recent years, his works have again been the centre of attention. This season “Doëlan la Plage” is even more rare and commendable, considering the essence of his painting style and the ingenuity of the subject matter, this work is definitely the crown jewel that collectors should not miss.