Banlieue (1949) belongs to the formative years of Bernard Buffet’s career, when the young French painter was developing the stark and immediately recognizable visual language that would define his work.

Executed in oil and oilstick on canvas, the painting depicts the post-war suburban environment through Buffet’s characteristic sharp lines, austere forms and restrained palette. Rather than idealizing the landscape, he reduces it to an atmosphere of solitude and tension, reflecting the existential character of his early work.

Created only a year after Buffet received the Prix de la Critique in 1948, Banlieue comes from a pivotal period in which he emerged as one of the most distinctive figures of post-war French painting.

This unique work is hand-signed by the artist.