"Parisian Bridge by the Eiffel Tower" Landscape Lithograph by Bernard Buffet

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When we mention Bernard Buffet, we instinctively think of his tortured portraits and dark representations of human emotions. However, his … Read more When we mention Bernard Buffet, we instinctively think of his tortured portraits and dark representations of human emotions. However, his work presents a much richer and more complex dimension, such as this less conventional canvas, which, instead of focusing on characters, captures a Parisian scene in a landscape format. In this work, a view of the Seine and the sky, a fragment of the Eiffel Tower blending into a green that seems largely fantasized, a bridge and a total absence of human figures launch the viewer into a visual meditation of the secrets that reside at the heart of the City of Lights.

The artist uses black not simply as a color but as a proper tool for sculpting. Shapes are drawn and delineated, contrasting with washed-out colors such as blue and green. Black symbolizes the mystery and inaccessibility of the emotions that the artist seeks to express. Unlike his other works, adding characters to tell a story, Buffet, with this piece, appears more interested in the elements and structural aspects of the composition itself.

Buffet succeeds in establishing a link between the observer and the piece represented. The Eiffel Tower and the bridge become the keepers of secrets, frameworks that bear the weight of Paris's history. The river mirrors the sky, with water ripples in the clouds as though a stone had been cast into a suspended lake, disrupting the calm surface. In Buffet's work, there is always an unsettling undercurrent. Everyone can project their experience or memories onto this flowing Seine, this bridge on which no one walks, and this Eiffel Tower that seems to observe silently.

This piece bears a dual signature and comes elegantly framed. On the left, a pencil signature marks the step, while on the right, the artist’s name is printed, followed by the year '68. It is worth remembering that 1968 in France was a year of profound revolution and widespread protests. Yet again, Buffet astonishes us by proposing a work almost silent in nature, standing in sharp contrast to the chaos of the era, when millions took to the streets of Paris, at times with violence.

Buffet reminds us that art can speak just as powerfully in the absence of sound, revealing the invisible through the structures that endure. The painting becomes a reflection not of a particular moment, but of the collective experience Paris, its inhabitants, and its visitors hold in a timeless embrace. See less