Photo Credit: fineestates
1956 Bernard Buffet Lithograph Print – St. Martin Canal
Asking Price: $100 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This vintage 1956 Bernard Buffet lithograph print titled “St. Martin Canal” features a skyline of the famous Parisian canal in an Expressionist style.
-This vintage print measures 29 inches (74 cm) wide by 21.5 inches (55 cm) tall (including margins), with the image itself being 22.5 inches (57 cm) wide by 14.5 inches (37 cm) tall.
-The French artist Bernard Buffet was born in 1928 and died in 1999. He studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National School of the Fine Arts) in Paris, France in the 1940s before briefly working as an apprentice to the painter Eugène Narbonne.
-Original prints are much more readily available at lower prices than paintings, making this Bernard Buffet lithograph the perfect piece of décor for art lovers on a tight budget.
-Bernard Buffet was a prolific artist during his 50-plus year career, creating an estimated 8,000 paintings, prints, and watercolors.
-This Bernard Buffet print was rendered in an Expressionist style, with his typical emphasis on geometry and grids. But the artist is perhaps best known for his work in the Miserabilist style, which was often characterized by portraits with haunting, angular faces.
-The subject of this landscape – the St. Martin Canal – is located in the heart of Paris, just adjacent to the Seine River. Napoleon ordered its construction in 1802, which was finally completed in 1825. Today it is a popular tourist destination in the City of Lights.
-This signed and dated Bernard Buffet lithograph print is a very approachable, wonderfully affordable example of post-World War II contemporary art by a known artist.
-Bernard Buffet revisited the St. Martin Canal in his work several times throughout his career, making several different print versions of the subject.
-I find it stunning that you can pick up an original Mid-Century print from a renowned 20th century French artist for only a single C-note. This shows just how beaten down the low end of the art market is right now. But if the market is going to be irrational, I say take advantage of it!
-This Bernard Buffet lithograph print is larger in size, making it an excellent candidate for hanging in a living room or great room as a centerpiece work.
-Why pay $40 or $50 for a reproduction art print (which will never have any collector’s value) when you can invest in this original 1950s Bernard Buffet lithograph print for only $100?
Cons:
-This print does not come with a frame. So before you can hang it on your wall, you will need to pay another $100 to $250 to have it properly mounted. I find it ironic that fine art is so cheap these days that the framing will cost you more than the work itself!
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