Bernard Buffet

BERNARD BUFFET (Paris, 1928 - Tourtour, 1999).
"Le café-restaurant à Roger", 1985.
Lithograph on paper. Copy 117/150.
Stains in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 58 x 76 cm.
Bernard Buffet's "Le café-restaurant à Roger" is inscribed in the artist's maturity, when his visual language is already fully consolidated and he recognizes in the daily scene a territory of almost existential observation. Far from a friendly or anecdotal representation of urban space, Buffet transforms the café-restaurant into a scene of silent tension.
The figure of Bernard Buffet has recently been revalued, especially since the monographic exhibition organized by the Pompidou Center in 2017. In the post-war context, he developed a language of his own, outside the dominant currents, consolidating himself as one of the most singular voices of the French art scene.
Trained in Paris and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, he worked alongside artists such as Maurice Boitel and Louis Vuillermoz, and in the studio of Eugène Narbonne. His career took off quickly after joining the Homme-Témoin group, achieving early fame and notable success in the 1950s, when he was already considered one of the most outstanding young painters in France.
Supported by dealers such as Emmanuel David and Maurice Garnier, Buffet exhibited widely and exerted a strong influence, even generating a school of followers. Throughout his career he received important awards, including the Prix de la Critique (1948), the Prix Puvis de Chavannes (1950) and his admission to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1974, as well as being named an officer of the Légion d'Honneur.
His work is part of outstanding collections such as the Pompidou Center, the Tate and the Museum of Modern Art, and his legacy reaches international projection, with a museum dedicated exclusively to his work in Japan.