Bernard Buffet French, 1928-1999

  • Overview
    Bernard Buffet, Nanse, France, 1952. Photo: Jean Lattes
    Bernard Buffet, Nanse, France, 1952. Photo: Jean Lattes

    Bernard Buffet is one of the most important Post-War figurative painters. Early genius, Bernard Buffet painted ceaselessly. His colossal body of work embraces all major pictural themes, from History paintings to trivial topics.

  • Works
  • Video
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • Biography
    Bernard Buffet at Constant, rue de Seine, Paris, France, 1948. © Ministère de la Culture - Médiathèque du Patrimoine, Dist. RMN Grand Palais / Denise Colomb
    Bernard Buffet at Constant, rue de Seine, Paris, France, 1948. © Ministère de la Culture - Médiathèque du Patrimoine, Dist. RMN Grand Palais / Denise Colomb

    AN EARLY PAINTER’S YOUTH AND TRAINING

    Bernard Buffet was born on July 10th, 1928 in Paris. In 1943 at just 15 years old – an exceptional case – he entered the Paris École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, where he stayed for three years. A young prodigy, the artist Bernard Buffet exhibited for the first time in 1946: at the Salon des Moins de Trente Ans (Salon for the under thirty), organized in the Galerie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was just 18 years old.

     

    THE DAZZLING RECOGNITION

    From 1947, exhibitions followed at a fast pace: Bernard Buffet participated in the Salon des Indépendants (1947 and 1948), at the Librairie des Impressions d’Art (1947), again at the Salon des Moins de Trente ans (1947), at the Salon d’Automne and at the Salon de Mai (1948). In 1947, the Musée national d’art moderne of Paris (now known as the Pompidou Centre) bought one of his paintings, Nature-morte au poulet (Still Life with Chicken); he was barely twenty years old. In 1948, Emmanuel David of the Galerie Drouant-David, offered him an exclusive contract. The exclusivity was later shared with Maurice Garnier. The same year, the painter Bernard Buffet won the prestigious Prix Critique of the Galerie Saint-Placide, jointly with the painter Bernard Lorjou. In February 1949, his first solo exhibition was held at the Galerie Drouant-David.

     

    From 1950 to 1958, Bernard Buffet was in an intimate relationship with Pierre Bergé. At that time, and thanks to his friend Jean Giono, he had a cabin in Manosque, and then moved to Nanse in the same region, where he lived in an old barn and painted three large paintings Horreur de la guerre (Horror of War) (1954).

     

    During the 1950s, Bernard Buffet created several drypoint illustrations: the Les chants de Maldoror by the Comte de Lautréamont (1952), Recherche de la Pureté by Jean Giono (1953) and on this occasion, Louis Aragon published Lettres Françaises an article “Le paysage a 4 siècles et Bernard Buffet 24 ans” (Landscape is 4 centuries old, Bernard Buffet, 24 years old)”. Buffet also provided drypoint illustrations for Jean Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine (1957).

     

    From 1952, the painter Bernard Buffet exhibited annually at the Galerie Drouant-David and with Maurice Garnier at the Galerie Visconti, choosing a theme each year. From 1957, these thematic shows were concentrated at the Galerie David et Garnier – the two dealers were partners for 11 years, and then from 1968, he was with the Galerie Maurice Garnier. A large number of subjects were chosen, such as Les Nus (Nudes) (1954 and 1980) Horreur de la guerre (Horror of War) (1955), Le Cirque (The Circus) (1956), Paysages de Paris (Landscapes of Paris) (1957), New York (1959), Portrait d’Annabel (Portraits of Annabel) (1961), Ecorchés (Skinned) (1965), La Corrida (1967), Les Plages (Beaches) (1968), Les Folles (The Mad Women) (1971), Le Japon (Japan) (1981), Les Clowns Musiciens (Clown Musicians) (1992), Mes Singes (My Monkeys)(1999)…

     

    Bernard Buffet exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1952 and again in 1956, when a room was devoted to him at the French pavilion. In 1955, the painter came first in the referendum organized by the magazine Connaissance des Arts to designate the ten best post-war painters.

     

    In 1958, a first retrospective about the painter Bernard Buffet’s work was held at the Galerie Charpentier in Paris. On 12 December, he married Annabel Schwob, a singer, actress and writer in Ramatuelle, who then became Annabel Buffet. They adopted three children: Virginie, Danielle and Nicolas.

     

    Bernard Buffet also worked in the dramatic arts, and painted models for stage sets and costumes for several ballets: La Chambre (The Bedroom) in 1955 (lyrics by Georges Simenon, music by Georges Auric) for the Ballets de Paris Roland Petit, Le Rendez-vous manqué in 1958 (lyrics by Françoise Sagan, directed by Roger Vadim), Patron in 1959 (lyrics by Marcel Aymé, music by Guy Béart) again for the Ballets Roland Petit and Carmen in 1962 (music by Georges Bizet, directed by Louis Ducreux) for the Opéra de Marseille. Later, in 1967, for the Opéra de Paris, he painted a model of the stage curtain, the sets and costumes for Le Grand cirque (The Great Circus) (music by Aram Khachaturian, choreography by Serge Lifar), and models for the sets and costumes for Istar (music by Vincent d’Indy, choreography by Serge Lifar).

     

    In his home at Château l’Arc near Aix-en-Provence, Bernard Buffet made a group of paintings on the Life of Christ for the decoration of the castle’s chapel in 1961. Ten years later, asked to do so by Monseigneur Pasquale Macchi, the secretary to Pope Paul VI, Bernard Buffet will donate these paintings to the Vatican Museum. In 1962, he was given the award of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. The same year, he created 16 etchings for an illustrated book of Charles Baudelaire’s poem Saint-Cast, souvenirs d’enfance (Saint-Cast, Childhood memories).

     

    INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

    The following year, a retrospective exhibition of Bernard Buffet’s work was held in Japan, at the Museum of Modern Art of Tokyo and the Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto. During the 1960s-1970s, the artist continued to create illustrations: india ink drawings for Toxique by Françoise Sagan (1964), colour lithographs for Herbier by Louise de Vilmorin (1966), and created new illustrated books: Mon Cirque with 44 colour lithograph illustrations (1968), Jeux de Dames, with twenty lithographs and poems by Verlaine, Rimbaud and Baudelaire (1970), and L’Enfer de Dante, with eleven drypoint engravings (1976).

     

    During the 1970s, Bernard Buffet received many honours: he was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1971, which was presented to him by Maurice Druon. In 1973, the Bernard Buffet Museum, entirely devoted to the painter’s work, was opened at Surugadaira in Japan, founded by M. Kiichiro Okano, a banker and great connoisseur of Bernard Buffet’s work. In 1974, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts; he was barely 45 years old.

     

    At the end of the 1980s, he moved to his domain at La Baume near Tourtour in Provence. Major retrospectives regarding Bernard Buffet’s work were held abroad during the 1990s: in Russia at the Pushkin Museum and the Hermitage in 1991, in Germany at the Documenta-Halle in Kassel in 1994, in Japan with a travelling retrospective (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Akita, Hakodate and Obihiro) in 1995.

     

    Suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, no longer able to paint, the artist Bernard Buffet committed suicide on 4th October 1999 at the dawn of the new millennium. In February 2000, the Galerie Maurice Garnier, exhibited the final theme of Bernard Buffet’s work: La Mort (Death).

  • COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

    Australia

    Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria

      

    France

    Annecy, Musée-Château

    Clermont-Ferrand, Musée d’art Roger-Quilliot

    Grenoble, Musée de Grenoble

    Marseille, Musée Cantini

    Nantes, Musée d’arts

    Paris, Centre national des arts plastiques

    Paris, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Pompidou

    Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

    Rennes, Musée des beaux-arts

    Saint-Étienne, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain

    Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Musée Estrine

    Villeneuve-d’Ascq, LaM

     

    Indonesia

    Bali, Pasifika Museum

     

    Japan

    Higashino, Bernard Buffet Museum

    Hiroshima, Hiroshima Museum of Art

    Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art

     

    Russia

    Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum

     

    Switzerland

    Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel

     

    United Kingdom

    London, Tate Modern

     

    United States

    New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

  • EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

    FIRST EXHIBITIONS

    Salon des Moins de Trente Ans, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, 1946-1947

    Galerie des impressions d’Art, Paris, France, 1947

    Salon des Tuileries, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, France, 1947-1955, 1967, 1969, 1971,1978-1988

    Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France, 1947, 1948

    Salon d’Automne, Paris, France, 1948

    « Prix de la Jeune Peinture », Galerie Drouant-David, Paris, France, 1948

    « Prix de la Critique », Galerie Saint-Placide, Paris, France, 1948

    Salon de Mai, Paris, France, 1948

    Second Manifeste de l’Homme témoin, Galerie Claude, Paris, France, 1949

    Salon des Jeunes Peintres, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, 1950-1952

    Venice Biennale, French Pavilion, Venice, Italy, 1952

    Venice Biennale, French Pavilion (individual room), Venice, Italy, 1956

    Salon des Peintres témoins de leur temps, Musée Galliera, Paris, France, 1962-1971

     

    ANNUAL EXHIBITIONS

     

    Galerie Drouant-David (Paris, France)

    Solo exhibition, 1949-1951

    La Passion du Christ, 1952

    Paysages, 1953

    Nus, 1954

    Horreur de la Guerre, 1955

    Le Cirque, 1956

     

    Galerie Visconti (Paris, France)

    La Passion du Christ (drawings), 1952

    Paysages (drawings), 1953

    Bestiaire (drawings), 1954

    Horreur de la Guerre (watercolours), 1955

    Le Cirque (watercolours), 1956

     

    Galerie David et Garnier (Paris, France)

    Paysages de Paris, 1957

    Jeanne d’Arc, 1958

    New York, 1959

    Les Oiseaux, 1960

    Portraits d’Annabel, 1961

    La Chapelle de Château l’Arc, 1962

    Paysages de Venise, 1963

    Le Muséum de Bernard Buffet, 1964

    Les Écorchés puis Vingt tableaux peints à Saint-Cast, 1965

    Femmes déshabillées, 1966

    La Corrida, 1967

     

    Galerie Maurice Garnier (Paris, France)

    Les Plages, 1968

    Églises de France then Paysage de Bretagne, 1969

    Châteaux de la Loire, 1970

    Les Folles, 1971

    Danièle et Virginie, 1972

    Les Bateaux, 1973

    Paysages, 1974, 1975

    Paysages de neige, 1976

    L’Enfer de Dante then Natures mortes, 1977

    La Révolution française then Aquarelles de Saint-Tropez, 1978

    Fleurs then Aquarelles de Saint-Tropez, 1979

    Nus, 1980

    Le Japon then Les Oiseaux d’Hokkaido, 1981

    Autoportraits, 1982

    Paysages, 1983

    Petits formats, 1984

    L’Automobile, 1985

    Les Pays-Bas, 1986

    Vues de Venise (watercolours), 1987

    Sumo et Kabuki then Natures mortes, 1988

    Don Quichotte, 1989

    Vingt mille lieues sous les mers then La Bretagne, 1990

    Vues de New York then Souvenirs d’Italie, 1991

    Les Clowns Musiciens then Saint-Pétersbourg, 1992

    L’Empire ou les Plaisirs de la Guerre then Promenade Provençale, 1993

    L’Odyssée, 1994

    Les Sept Péchés Capitaux, 1995

    Pékin then Gravures à la pointe-sèche, 1996

    Régates, 1997

    La Maison, 1998

    Mes Singes, 1999

    La Mort, 2000

    Tableaux pour un musée, 2001 (theme revisited every year until 2009)

     

    MAIN RETROSPECTIVES AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS

    Bernard Buffet, Galerie Lucien Blanc, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1955

    Paintings by Bernard Buffet, Los Angeles County Museum, CA, United States, 1955

    Niveau Gallery, New York, NY, United States, 1957

    Cent tableaux de 1944 à 1958 par Bernard Buffet, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, France, 1958

    Les Voyages fantastiques de Cyrano de Bergerac, Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, France, 1958

    Bernard Buffet, Institut français, Berlin, Germany, 1958

    Bernard Buffet, National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto, Japan, 1963

    Bernard Buffet, Radierungen, Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany, 1968

    Bernard Buffet, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, France, 1969

    Sapporo Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan, 1978

    Bernard Buffet, Musée postal, Paris, France, 1978

    Traveling retrospective of lithographic works in Japan, 1980

    Pushkin Museum, Moscow; Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1991

    Bonjour Monsieur Buffet !, Musée Gustave Courbet, Ornans, France, 1993

    Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, Musée départemental de l’Oise, Beauvais, France, 1993

    Bernard Buffet, Château de Chenonceau, France, 1993

    Bernard Buffet retrospektive, Documenta-Halle, Kassel, Germany, 1994

    Bernard Buffet, Odakyu Museum of Art, Tokyo; Takashimaya Museum of Art, Kyoto; Nara Sogo Museum, Nara; Akita Senshu City Museum, Akita; Hakodate Public Museum, Hokkaido; Obihiro Public Museum, Hokkaido, Japan, 1995

    Jeanne d'Arc, Palais de Justice, Rouen, France, 1997

    Bernard Buffet, Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France, 1998

    Sogo Museum, Yokohama, Japan, 2000

    Bernard Buffet, Musée Paul Valéry, Sète, France, 2003

    Bernard Buffet: A Controversial Body of Work, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Netherlands, 2006

    Bernard Buffet et la Bretagne, Musée département breton, Quimper, France, 2007

    Bernard Buffet Painter, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2008

    Bernard Buffet, Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, France, 2009

    Bernard Buffet and Annabel, Sogo Museum of Art in Yokohama, Japan, 2009

    Bernard Buffet, Meguro Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 2010

    Post 1958 : une symphonie de couleur en plus, Musée du Touquet-Paris-Plage, Le Touquet, France, 2014

    Salle d’exposition du Gouvernement, Andorre-la-Vieille, Andorre, 2014

    Bernard Buffet, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2014-2015

    Bernard Buffet Rétrospective, Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, France, 2016-2017

    Bernard Buffet, Intimement, Musée de Montmartre, Paris, France, 2016-2017

    1948-1956 Roger Dutilleul, l’œil d’un collectionneur, Galerie Diane de Polignac, Paris, France, 2017

    Bernard Buffet, Retrospective, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea, 2019

    Bernard Buffet Aujourd’hui, Galerie Diane de Polignac, Paris, France, 2022

     

    MAIN GROUP EXHIBITIONS

    Recent Trends in Realist Painting, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, United Kingdom, 1952

    Bernard Buffet, Bernard Lorjou, Louis Valtat, Claude Venard, Musée de L’Athénée, Geneva, Switzerland, 1953

    Bernard Buffet, Kunstverein, Munich, Germany, 1957

    Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan, 1959

    Musée de L’Athénée, Geneva, Switzerland, 1960

    Petit Palais de Genève, Switzerland, 1970

    Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy, 1973

    Grand Palais, Paris, France, 1973

    L’Automobile, Musée national de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, 1985

    National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia, 1995

    Centre Jean Giono, Manosque, France, 1995

    National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia, 1999

    Paris, capitale des arts, 1900-1968, Royal Academy of Art, London, UK ; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 2002-2003

    Cher peintre…, Lieber Maler…, Dear Painter…, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France ; Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria ; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 2002-2003

    Coollustre, collection Lambert, Avignon, France, 2003

    Moi – Autoportraits du XXe siècle, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, France, 2004

    Une Histoire de paravents, La Piscine, Roubaix, France, 2005

    La Force de l’Art, Grand Palais, Paris, France, 2006

    Année 1950, l’alternative figurative, Musée d’Art Roger-Quillot, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 2007

    Pont-Aven, du paysage à l’œuvre, Musée de Pont-Aven, France, 2007

    Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, FIAC, Paris, France, 2009

    C’est la vie – Vanités du XVe au XXe siècle, Musée Maillol, Paris, France, 2010

    Aragon et l’Art moderne, Musée de la Poste, Paris, France, 2010

    De Nolde à Buffet, Forum Würth, Arlesheim, Switzerland, 2010

    Oceanomania, Nouveau Musée national de Monaco, Villa Paloma, Monaco, 2011

    L’Art en guerre, France 1938-1947, Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, France ; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 2012-2013

  • Bibliography
    Bernard Buffet in his studio, château L’Arc, France, 1956
    Bernard Buffet in his studio, château L’Arc, France, 1956

    Pierre DESCARGUES, Bernard Buffet, Éditions P.L.F., Paris, 1949

     

    Pierre DESCARGUES, Bernard Buffet, Éditions P.L.F., Paris, 1952

     

    Pierre BERGÉ, Bernard Buffet, Horreur de la guerre, Éditions Parenthèses, Paris, 1955

     

    Jean GIONO, Bernard Buffet, Éditions Fernand Hazan, Paris, 1956

     

    Pierre BERGÉ, Bernard Buffet, Éditions l’Artisan, Paris, 1958

     

    Pierre BERGÉ, Bernard Buffet, Éditions Pierre Cailler, Genève, 1958

     

    Georges SIMENON et Jean BOURET, Bernard Buffet, Éditions Les Cahiers de la Peinture, Paris,1958

     

    Georges HOURDIN, Bernard Buffet, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1958

     

    Pierre BERGÉ, Bernard Buffet, Art et Style, Paris, 1958

     

    Maurice DRUON, Bernard Buffet, Éditions Hachette, Paris, 1964

     

    Pierre CABANNE, Bernard Buffet par, Éditions Fernand Hazan, Paris, 1966

     

    Charles SORLIER, Bernard Buffet lithographe I, Éditions Michèle Trinckvel, Paris, 1979

     

    Maurice RHEIMS, Bernard Buffet graveur, Éditions d’Art de Francony, Éditions Maurice Garnier,1983

     

    Uwe BRAUER, Bernard Buffet, biographie, Éditions Pro Art, Geneva, 1983

     

    Annabel BUFFET, D’amour et d’eau fraîche, Éditions Sylvie Messinger, Paris, 1986

     

    Yann LE PICHON, Bernard Buffet, (deux premiers volumes de la monographie), Éditions Galerie Maurice Garner, Paris, 1986

     

    Georges DURAND, La Divine comédie de Bernard Buffet, Éditions Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1986

     

    Charles SORLIER, Bernard Buffet lithographe II, Paris, Éditions André Sauret, Monte-Carlo, 1987

     

    Alin Alexis AVILA, Bernard Buffet, Éditions Casterman, Paris, 1989

     

    Stéphane LAURENT, Bernard Buffet, le peintre crucifié, biographie, Éditions Michalon, Paris, 2000

     

    Annabel BUFFET, Post Scriptum, Éditions Plon, Paris, 2001

    Annabel BUFFET et Jean-Claude LAMY, Bernard Buffet, secrets d’atelier, textes, photographies de Luc Fournol et Benjamin Auger, Éditions Flammarion, Paris, 2004

     

    Lydia HARAMBOURG, Bernard Buffet et la Bretagne, Éditions Palantines, Quimper, 2006

     

    Henry PÉRIER, Bernard Buffet et la Provence, Éditions Palantines, Quimper, 2007

     

    Brigitte CAMUS, Buffet ou la psychanalyse en signature, Éditions de l’Épure, 2007

     

    Yann LE PICHON, Bernard Buffet (troisième volume de la monographie), Éditions Galerie Maurice Garnier, Paris, 2007

     

    Jean-Claude LAMY, Bernard Buffet, le Samouraï, Biographie, Éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 2008

     

    John SILLEVIS, Bernard Buffet, monographie, Éditions Palantines, Quimper, 2008

     

    Lydia HARAMBOURG, Bernard Buffet, Fonds de dotation Bernard Buffet, Éditions Palantines, Quimper, 2013

     

    Picasso, Léger, Masson. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler et ses peintres, LAM, SNEL Graphics, Vottel (Herstal), Belgium, 2013

     

    Nicholas FOULKES, Bernard Buffet: The Invention of the Modern Mega-artist, Preface publishing, London, 2016

     

    Bernard Buffet, catalogue de l’exposition au Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris du 14 octobre 2016 au 26 février 2017, Éditions Paris Musées, Paris, 2016

     

    Bernard Buffet, Intimement, catalogue de l’exposition au Musée de Montmartre-Jardins Renoir du 18 octobre 2016 au 5 mars 2017, Somogy éditions d’art, Paris, 2016

     

    BERNARD BUFFET 1948-1956 – Roger Dutilleul, l’œil d’un collectionneur, catalogue de l’exposition à la Galerie Diane de Polignac, Paris, 2017

     

    Catalogue Raisonné de l’Œuvre peint de Bernard Buffet de 1941 à 1953, Fonds de Dotation Bernard Buffet, Paris, 2020

     

    Nicolas Buffet, BERNARD BUFFET AUJOURD’HUI, catalogue de l’exposition à la Galerie Diane de Polignac, Paris, 2022

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