Bernard Buffet, born July 10, 1928 in Paris and died October 4, 1999 in Tourtour (Var), is a French expressionist painter, composing characters as well as figures, animals, nudes, landscapes, interiors, still lifes, flowers.
Watercolourist, he is also a decorative painter and an illustrator.
Bernard Buffet was born on July 10, 1928 in Paris, more precisely in the Batignolles district. He began his studies at the Lycée Carnot from 1939 to 1943. To better understand the life of this French expressionist painter, let's consult his biography.
Bernard Buffet began painting at the age of 10. After being expelled from the Lycée Carnot in 1939, the artist took evening classes in 1942. It was Monsieur Darbefeuille who introduced him to drawing. At the age of 15, he won the entrance examination for the National School of Fine Arts. At that time he spent 2 years in the studio of the painter Eugène Narbonne.
In 1945, the young prodigy worked alone in the maid's room of the family apartment. The following year, he exhibited his first painting representing a self-portrait at the Salon des less than thirty years old at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts. In 1947, he exhibited L'Homme accoudé at the Salon des Indépendants, then in December of the same year his first private exhibition was organised.
During this exhibition, the young painter made his first sale for the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. This transaction took place through the intermediary of Raymond Cogniat and the work purchased for the Parisian gallery was a Still Life with Chicken. In April 1948, he presented Le Buveur for the Young Painting Prize competition. Despite the fact that he does not obtain the main prize, his presence allows him to meet Doctor Maurice Girardin. This contemporary art collector acquired 17 of his paintings between 1948 and 1953. Also in 1948, Emmanuel David offered him an exclusive contract which was then shared with Maurice Garnier. In 1952, the artist received the Antral prize.