Paravent: Les instruments de musique 1961

Bernard Buffet made this painting, Paravent: Les instruments de musique, in 1961. Buffet’s paintings often have a spiky directness, and this one is no exception. You can see it in the way the forms of the instruments are outlined; they are sharp and almost brutal, as if he’s trying to capture not just their shapes but their very essence. The paint isn’t dabbed on with any kind of subtlety, but rather applied in rough swipes and strokes. This isn't a painting about hiding the process; it's all about the process. Buffet's paintings feel raw, almost unfinished. Take the music sheets, for example. They are these stark white rectangles scrawled with dark lines. It's like he’s inviting us to hear the cacophony of sounds these instruments might make. Buffet’s work reminds me a little of Francis Bacon, who twisted the figure in similarly unsettling ways. Both artists seem to be searching for ways to represent the human condition, with all its anxiety and alienation, leaving us to sort through the noise and find our own melody.