1928-1999
Bernard Buffet produced many prints, his first prints being created in the 1950s. Many of Bernard Buffet’s prints were lithograph prints though he also created etching prints, woodcut prints and drypoint prints. All of Bernard Buffet prints are original prints as Buffet saw printmaking as a distinct medium to create artworks.
Studying at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Parisian-born expressionist artist, Bernard Buffet first produced religious pieces, still lifes, landscapes and portraits. In 1946 at the Salon des Moins de Trente Ans at the Galerie Beaux-Arts, Buffet had his first painting exhibited: a self-portrait. In 1952, he illustrated ‘Les Chants de Maldoror’.
In 1955 Buffet was awarded first out of the ten best post-war artists by the magazine Connaissance des Arts. By the age of 30, in 1958, he had his work retrospectively exhibited at the Galerie Charpentier. In the same year he married writer and actress Annabel Schwob and they adopted three children. In 1973, Buffet was awarded the title ‘Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur’. Another honour in that same year was the Bernard Buffet museum being founded in Surugadaira, Japan.
In 1978, Buffet designed a stamp representing the Institut et le Pont des Arts. This was at the request of the French Postal administration. The Post museum then arranged for another retrospective exhibition of his works. Over his time, it is said that Buffet created up to 8000 paintings, as well as many prints. In 1999, after suffering from Parkinson’s disease and being no longer able to paint, Bernard Buffet committed suicide at his home in France.
