SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Robert Combas

Born : 1957Documented citizenships : France

Born in Lyon in 1957, Robert Combas develops a figurative practice that takes shape from his earliest years of training. After a year at the Beaux-Arts in Sète, where he meets Hervé Di Rosa, he takes a stance against conceptual art and focuses on space, colour and figuration. From 1977, he paints the Batailles series, then revisits, among other subjects, the figure of Mickey Mouse.

In 1979, in Sète, he creates the magazine Bato with Di Rosa and Catherine Brindel, known as Ketty; it is conceived as a collective, assemblage-based work. The term “figuration libre” is attributed to Ben, who coins it in the summer of 1981 while inviting Combas and Di Rosa to exhibit at his gallery in Nice. In 1984, the Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris organises “5/5, Figuration libre France/USA”, an exhibition that marks the movement’s recognition.

The use of reclaimed materials—tables, doors or sheets—is part of an approach that continues across varied supports, including children’s drawings and magazine pages. Le Fakir, acrylic on canvas from 1982, is listed as held at the Toulon art museum. Music also has a place in his career: he is a musician and collects vinyl records, among other things.

This profile brings together identity references for Robert Combas and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

Documented auction references

21auction references

7auction houses

18documented results with prices

Dobiaschofsky · Sotheby’s · DognyAuction · Kornfeld · Genève Enchères · Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer · Piguet

References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.

Works recorded at auction

Photograph : Piguet · Enlarge image ↗

Piguet

Les mains ne servent pas qu'à se faire de choses

Ink on paper

Original catalogue wording

Les mains ne servent pas qu'à se faire de choses
encre sur papier

Catalogue period : 2025-11-27 — 2025-12-10

Published result : 1000 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 2000–3000

Robert Combas

Documented auction references

Works recorded at auction

Les mains ne servent pas qu'à se faire de choses

Paysage forestier,

La Triangle Femme

You look at him, he looks at you, this feline with sharp, slightly grinning teeth. He is going to eat you!

"Buenos Aires"

"Il porte un chapeau de paille, une espèce de torque fait de grosse paille d'or".

Femme nue.

Les oranges

Le révolutionnaire cabochard, 1989

Triple expression libre du nord !, 1981

Les deux personnages à roulettes

"Escampa lou capeou 12".

L'homme aux trois têtes

Untitled

Robert COMBAS (1957),Robert COMBAS (1957), 'TÊTE TABLEAU - TABLEAU PINCEAUX'

Le peignoir à Denise

Le caméléon.

"Portrait de Gérard Rirenlair avec sa petite maison coquine".

Femme aux éléphants.

Totem.

The cheerfully sad gang

Sources and references

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