Giorgio De Chirico's Enigma

These two uncanny half-length mannequins standing out against a window with an architectural landscape inspired keen bidding up to €380,000. In the long course of an output devoted to "metaphysical painting", the painting (50 x 40 cm/19.7 x 15.7 in) belongs to the period after the Second World War, when De Chirico was at the height of his fame. Another superstar of the 20th century, Bernard Buffet, illustrated his favorite exercise: giving life to inanimate objects—in his own particular way. First came some Cerises rouges (Red Cherries) gathered in 1998; the painting (60 x 81 cm/23.6 x 31.9 in), bought from the Maurice Garnier Gallery in Paris, and listed in its archives, garnered €168,000, while his Deux Vases, also painted on canvas in 1998 (100 x 50 cm/39.4 x 19.7 in.), fetched €165,000 (with a certificate from Maurice Garnier). A more animated Personnage en bois (Wooden Figure) by Robert Combas from 1989, acrylic on canvas (130 x 162 cm/51.2 x 63.8 in), landed €145,500. The sale ended on a serene note with Henri Martin's view of La Bastide-du-Vert and its bell tower overlooking the famous village in the Lot where he bought his house, Marquayrol. This bucolic painting (105 x 68 cm/41.3 x 26.8 in), which came with a certificate from Cyrille Martin, sold for €103,000.