Carmen II

Bernard Buffet (1928 - 1999) is a French artist emblematic of the Expressionist movement on an international scale. He entered the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts at the age of 15, but stayed only two years, preferring to work as a self-taught artist. Initially constrained by financial considerations, he limited the use of color in his painting, favoring rather dark tones composed of grays, blacks, bistres and greens. His unique style, distinguished by elongated forms and sharp strokes, attracted attention, even prompting a papal request for donations to the Vatican. Awarded the Prix de la Critique at the age of 20 in 1948, the following year he signed an exclusive contract with Galerie Drouant-David, later shared with Maurice Garnier. In 1955, he won the Connaissance des Arts referendum as the best post-war French artist. A master of miserabilism, Bernard Buffet is exhibited in the world's greatest museums, even having a museum to his name in Japan since 1973. His admission to the Académie des Beaux-Arts (1974) and his distinctions as Officier des Arts et des Lettres (1973) and Officier de la Légion d'Honneur (1993), testify to an official recognition, breaking with the original disenchantment of the French intelligentsia. In 2016, more than fifteen years after his death, a retrospective of his work was organized at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.