Bernard Buffet

BERNARD BUFFET (Paris, 1928 – Tourtour, France, 1999).
“Le voyage au Japon,” 1981.
Book with 24 color lithographs, some of which are double-page spreads.
An EA copy inscribed to Annabel Buffet, the artist’s wife.
Printer: Mourlot, Paris.
Signed in pencil by the artist and his wife.
Measurements: 47 x 64 cm (double-page lithograph); 47 x 32 cm (single page); 49.5 x 34 x 6 cm (book).
*Le Voyage au Japon*, published in 1981, is much more than an artist’s book: it is a testament to an encounter between two worlds as seen through the eyes of one of the most unique couples on the 20th-century French art scene. The work brings together illustrations by Bernard Buffet and texts by his wife and muse, Annabel Buffet, creating a travel journal in which art and literature intertwine. The edition is presented in its original moiré silk slipcase in shades of yellow and ochre, with the title calligraphically inscribed on the spine—a detail that already foreshadows the piece’s character. Inside are 24 original color lithographs, produced at the prestigious Atelier Mourlot in Paris, one of the great names in the French lithographic tradition.
In these prints, Buffet takes his unmistakable visual language into a completely different realm. His famous black, angular, and taut lines trace the contours of Mount Fuji, the temples of Kyoto, and other Japanese landscapes, while capturing figures from everyday life and Japanese culture, such as the imposing sumo wrestler. Japan thus appears filtered through Buffet’s graphic personality: recognizable, stylized, and dramatic, yet also surprisingly attuned to the essence of what she observes.
Accompanying the images, Annabel Buffet recounts the journey as a personal diary, sharing her impressions, her discoveries, and also the cultural hallmarks she encounters along the way. Her text lends an intimate dimension to the work and transforms the collection into more than just a series of images: it becomes a shared travel experience.
Bernard Buffet was one of the key figures of postwar French figurative art. His work, characterized by incisive lines and an austere, melancholic vision, is featured in institutions such as the Centre Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In Japan, where his work was exceptionally well received, the Bernard Buffet Museum in Shizuoka houses one of the most extensive collections dedicated to the artist.