Bernard Aubertin (1934-2015) - Incombusti

Bernard Aubertin (1934-2015)

"Incombusti"

Archived artwork
hand-signed by the artist.
Dimensions including frame: 27 x 27 cm.
Year: 2011.
In good condition.
The artwork comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Shipped by express courier, with professional packaging.

Description:
This artwork belongs to an exceptionally rare series in Bernard Aubertin's body of work, in which the artist subverts his iconic language based on combustion.
In "Incombusti," the matches are left intact and arranged with geometric precision against a white background, as if suspended in the instant before the fire is ignited.

The choice not to burn the material introduces a poetic and conceptual reflection: the potential of energy takes the place of its manifestation. The artwork thus becomes an act of waiting, a balance between tension and stillness, where the flame is evoked but never lit.

Historical context

Created in 2011, this series represents a radical departure from Aubertin's classic works of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the *Dessins de feu* or the *Tableaux de clous*.
The renunciation of the incendiary gesture transforms fire into an idea—not an action—and marks a phase of meta-artistic reflection on his own poetics.

Interpretation

The artwork can be read as a metaphor for restrained power: fire, a symbol of transformation and destruction, is crystallized here in its state of possibility.
Aubertin, master of monochrome and combustion, shows that even the absence of fire can constitute a creative act.