Buffet Bernard

rif. 96197 — Paris A. Mazo éditeur 1962. . Limited edition number 73 of 150 copies; landscape folio 55 x 23 cm; title limitation page table of illustrations text by Baudelaire and 10 colour lithographs each signed and numbered; loose in beige portfolio with flaps ribbon ties. Lithographs of Paris signed and numbered by the artist A superb example - a prime example of Buffet's intense emotional style with long elongated portraits sombre and solitary but also very sympathetic. He became extremely popular as contemporary taste developed an appetite for his stark sombre images. A renowned French expressionist painter Buffet 1928-1999 studied for two years at the École des Beaux-Arts in his hometown of Paris. From 1945 he worked as a freelance painter with his first solo exhibition being held in 1947. Following his receiving the 'Prix de la Critique' in June 1948 he gained considerable attention and his works were suddenly in great demand. Buffet developed a distinctive style with dramatic heavily emphasized thick black lines. In 1955 he was awarded the first prize by the magazine Connaissance des Arts which named him as one of the ten best post-war artists; he was also awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1973. Paris, A. Mazo éditeur, 1962. unknown