This exquisite lithograph by Bernard Buffet (1928–1999), titled Les ombelles (The Umbels), originates from the 1972 edition published by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collaboration with Leon Amiel, editeurs, New York, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, April 5, 1972. This elegant and striking composition exemplifies Buffet’s masterful command of line and structure. Les ombelles captures the artist’s signature tension between austerity and grace—its precise, elongated forms and muted palette conveying both fragility and strength. Through his disciplined draftsmanship and expressive restraint, Buffet transforms a simple floral motif into a meditation on balance, order, and existential beauty.
Executed as a lithograph on velin d’Arches paper, this work measures 12.81 x 9.81 inches (32.54 x 24.92 cm). Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the exceptional craftsmanship of the Mourlot Freres atelier, renowned for its collaboration with leading modern artists of the 20th century.
Artwork Details:
Artist: Bernard Buffet (1928–1999)
Title: Les ombelles (The Umbels), 1972
Medium: Lithograph on velin d’Arches paper
Dimensions: 12.81 x 9.81 inches (32.54 x 24.92 cm)
Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued
Date: 1972
Publisher: Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collaboration with Leon Amiel, editeurs, New York
Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris
Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium
Provenance: From the edition published by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collaboration with Leon Amiel, editeurs, New York, 1972
Notes:
Excerpted from the album (translated from French), This album is the album of friendship, and I want to thank all the artists who wanted to participate. Some lithographs presented here, and whose authors have left us for too long, were made at my request for an album "Adieu a la rue de Chabrol" that I intended to publish ten years ago. So it was at this time that I was able to get the lithos of Braque, Cocteau, Derain, Giacometti and Villon. Mrs. Duthuit-Matisse and her brothers authorized me to print the composition of Henri Matisse, an unused original lithograph of the album by Teriade "La Religieuse portugaise". I am happy to have brought together so many works by contemporary artists, it is a great honor for me and I am infinitely grateful to them. Finished printing in Paris on April 5, 1972, this album was printed on velin d’Arches, in DCCC numbered examples. In addition, a number of copies were printed for artists, friends and collaborators of this album. The original lithographs were printed by Mourlot, and the typography is from Fequet and Baudier. Alain A.C. Mazo, Paris, and Leon Amiel, New York, publishers.
About the Publication:
Souvenirs et Portraits d'Artistes (Memories and Portraits of Artists), published in 1972 by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, and Leon Amiel, New York, represents one of the most distinguished collaborative albums of the modern era. Bringing together original lithographs by some of the foremost artists of the 20th century, the portfolio celebrates artistic friendship, collaboration, and the spirit of creativity. Les ombelles (The Umbels) by Bernard Buffet stands as a prime example of this vision, uniting expressive precision with symbolic restraint. Printed at the renowned Atelier Mourlot, the work reflects the technical and artistic mastery that defined French printmaking at its height.
About the Artist:
Bernard Buffet (1928–1999) was a French painter and printmaker whose unmistakable linear style, technical precision, and emotional intensity made him one of the most influential and prolific artists of the 20th century. Born in Paris, Buffet entered the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts at fifteen and soon developed a visual language defined by taut black outlines, muted tones, and haunting stillness that reflected the existential climate of postwar Europe. Influenced by Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, Buffet forged a path that blended classical rigor with modern expression. Emerging in the late 1940s as a prodigy of French modernism, he rose to fame after his work L’Homme accoude was acquired by the Musee National d’Art Moderne, and by his early twenties, he was being heralded as a successor to Picasso. His stark depictions of Parisian streets, still lifes, religious scenes, clowns, and self-portraits embodied the human struggle with isolation and resilience, capturing the postwar spirit with both intellect and empathy. Buffet’s disciplined draftsmanship, emotional gravity, and refusal to abandon figuration during the dominance of abstraction set him apart from his contemporaries and aligned him with the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he achieved international acclaim, exhibiting across Europe, America, and Asia, and in 1955 won the Prix de la Critique. His prolific output—over 8,000 works spanning painting, lithography, and illustration—combined the architectural order of Calder’s compositions with the psychological depth of Dali and Giacometti. A polarizing figure in his lifetime, Buffet was celebrated by collectors and the public for his expressive honesty, while critics debated his commercial success. In 1973, the Musee Bernard Buffet was founded in Surugadaira, Japan, housing thousands of his works and confirming his global legacy. His influence extended to later artists such as George Condo and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as fashion and design movements that admired his austere elegance. His art remains in major museum collections, including the Centre Pompidou, the Tate, and MoMA, and his mastery of line and emotion continues to resonate with collectors seeking modern art that unites discipline and feeling. Standing alongside Picasso, Dali, Miro, Giacometti, Calder, Kandinsky, Duchamp, and Man Ray, Bernard Buffet endures as a monumental figure in modern art, a painter who transformed despair into beauty through precision and vision. His highest auction record was achieved by Le Cirque (1961), which sold for $13.6 million at Christie’s, Hong Kong, on May 26, 2022, reaffirming his status as one of the most distinctive, visionary, and collectible painters of the modern era.
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