Bernard Buffet was born in Paris in 1928 and entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1943 and studied there until 1945.
Sustained by the picture-dealer Maurice Garnier, Buffet produced religious pieces, landscapes, portraits and still-lifes. In 1946, he had his first painting shown, a self-portrait, at the Salon des Moins de Trente Ans at the Galerie Beaux-Arts. He had at least one major exhibition every year which was dedicated to a special subject, for example: Les Fleurs, Vue de Venise or Les Clowns Musiciens.
Buffet was honoured for his work in 1948 with the “Prix de la Critique”. Bernard Buffet was also a member of the anti-abstract artist group “L'homme Témoin”. Buffet developed an unmistakable, realistic style where often his heavily structured and vertically constructed works were dominated by a dark web of lines, resulting in a provoking, dramatic effect. Rembrandt, Géricault, Courbet, Delacroix and van Gogh were his artistic role-models.
Buffet drew inspiration and referred to German Expressionism, especially its pessimistic elements, mystic asceticism of early Christian cultures and the poetical rigorousity of Japonism. In his portraits, self-portraits, still-lifes and landscapes he always dealt with the quintessence of life.
In 1952 Buffet illustrated "Les Chants de Maldoror" written by Comte de Lautrèamont. In 1955, he was awarded first prize by the magazine Connaissance des arts, which named the 10 best post-war artists. In 1958, at the age of 30, the first retrospective of his work was held at the Galerie Charpentier.
Buffet married the writer and actress Annabel Schwob in December 12, 1958, his daughter Virginie was born in 1962, his youngest daughter Danielle in 1963 and his son Nicolas, was born in 1973, the same year that he was named "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur".
In November 23, 1973 the Bernard Buffet Museum was inaugurated founded by Kiichiro Okano, in Surugadaira, Japan. Later in 1978, at the request of the French postal administration in 1978, he designed a stamp depicting the Institut et le Pont des Arts - on this occasion the Post Museum arranged a retrospective of his works.
Buffet was suffering from Parkinson's Disease and was no longer able to work and on October 4th, 1999, committed suicide at his home in Tourtour, Southern France.
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Bernard Buffet
