Art, literature & historyLes folles, femmes au salon
Bernard Buffet: 1928–1999
Other names (4)
b. buffet, bernard buffet, Bernard Leon Edmond Buffet, Buffet
Biography
Bernard Buffet (French: [byfɛ]; 10 July 1928 – 4 October 1999) was a French painter, printmaker, and illustrator. An extremely prolific artist, he produced a varied and extensive body of work. His style was exclusively figurative and is often classified as Expressionist and Misérabilisme, as well as figurative collectives such as L'Homme-Témoin and La Jeune Peinture. Art historians have also classified his formal style as "abstract realism"—a framework in which recognizable, everyday figurative subjects are flattened, enclosed within rigid geometric grids, and stripped of cast shadows to assert the two-dimensional autonomy of the canvas.
Curators have further noted that the emotional detachment, repetition, and formal rigidity of his figures share close affinities with New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) portraiture and the anti-subjective descriptive style of the Nouveau Roman.
Buffet enjoyed worldwide popularity in the 1950s and was often compared to Pablo Picasso for his fame and talent. By the end of the 1950s, however, the public and art community turned strongly against him due to the rise of abstraction, public backlash against his affluent lifestyle, and accusations of excessive commercial serialization. Major 21st-century museum retrospectives in Frankfurt (2008) and Paris (2016) prompted an art-historical re-evaluation of his graphic methods and market strategies.
Wikipedia contributors. Opening excerpt, formatted for reading. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision.
Influenced by
- Antoine-Jean Groseditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Chaim Soutineeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Gustave Courbeteditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Jean Fautriereditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Francis Grubereditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Edgar Degaseditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Henri Rousseaueditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Diego Velázquezeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Eugène Narbonneeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Gustave Doréeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Rembrandt van Rijneditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
Later influence
- Andy Warholeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
Artworks by year
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Finding recorded artworks…
Museums & collections
Documented holdings of works attributed to Bernard Buffet. Check the museum’s record for current display information.
- musée de l’abbaye / donations Guy Bardone-René Genis — Saint-Claude11 recorded works
- Musée d'art moderne de Paris10 recorded works
- National Gallery of Art4 recorded works
- musée d'Art Moderne — Troyes2 recorded works
- musée des beaux-arts — Lille2 recorded works
- musée des Beaux-Arts — Nantes2 recorded works
- musée Estrine — Saint-Rémy-de-Provence2 recorded works
- Art Institute of Chicago1 recorded work
- Musei Civici di Arte e Storia1 recorded work
- Museum of Modern Art1 recorded work
- Tate1 recorded work
- The Cleveland Museum of Art1 recorded work
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art1 recorded work
Sources 9
- Wikidata (CC0)
- National Gallery of Art
- Museum authority country review
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Museum authority country review
- Tate Collection metadata (October 2014 snapshot)
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Expanded artwork research — official museum evidence
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)