Bernard Buffet (1928-1999) is well-known for his angular sharply-featured portraits and images of clowns, using black lines and dark shadowy trees creating a slightly melancholy atmosphere devoid of any emotion – no bright colours or fat and jolly people here. He used this same style for his paintings of cities, towns and harbours and for his empty interiors of buildings and images of the modern trappings of luxury such as the fast car.
Born in 1928 in Paris, he is one of the most famous 20th century French artists with a draughtsman-like technique where black lines set out the framework and perspective of his painting, as in an architectural drawing, within which limited colour and tone was added. His images of France – Paris and elsewhere – and other places such as Haarlem, New York, St Petersburg and Venice show both traditional urban landscapes and those where modern developments are intruding on the traditional cityscape, as can be seen at the current exhibition at the Opera Gallery in London, which also includes examples of his still lives, sinister insects and portraits.
Buffet was a prolific painter creating over 8000 paintings in his lifetime, but sadly committed suicide at his home in 1999 when he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and no longer able to work.
