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Bernard Buffet

Bernard Buffet

The Invention of the Modern Mega-Artist

by Nicholas Foulkes
Hardback
Publication Date: 04/01/2016

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It is said that asphyxiation brings on a state of hallucinatory intoxication... in which case the 71-year-old artist who lay in his sprawling Provencal villa died happy. In the early afternoon of Monday October 4 1999, wracked with Parkinson's disease, and unable to paint after breaking his wrist, Bernard Buffet calmly placed a plastic bag over his head, taped it tight around his neck and patiently waited the few minutes it took for death to arrive.

Bernard Buffet was the first artist of the television and the jet age. As the first of the so-called Fabulous Five (Francoise Sagan, Roger Vadim, Brigitte Bardot and Yves Saint Laurent) he was a leader of the cultural revolution that seemed to forge a new France from the shattered remains of a discredited and demoralized country. While still in his twenties he had a Rolls Royce, a chateau, an island, high society at his feet and a glittering future ahead. Yet his extraordinary fall from grace was engineered by the very establishment that created him. Once hailed as a genius he was later shunned as a joke. Today, almost 70 years after he first shot to fame as a 20 year old prodigy hailed as a successor to Picasso, critical opinion remains sharply divided on the reputation of a controversial painter.

Rich in incident Buffet's remarkable story is played out against the backdrop of the beau monde of the 1950s and 1960s in locations as diverse as St Tropez, Tokyo, Paris, Dallas, St Petersburg and New York, before coming to its miserable conclusion alone in his studio.

With the cooperation of the Buffet estate, this is the first in-depth biography of the artist to be published in English, and Foulkes has secured unique interviews and access to the Buffet legacy. Buffet's story is an allegory for the corrosive commercial investment value of art markets today. His paintings are currently rocketing in value as he is rediscovered.
ISBN:
9781848094444
9781848094444
Category:
The arts
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
04-01-2016
Language:
English
Publisher:
Penguin Random House
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Dimensions (mm):
239x157x43mm
Weight:
0.83kg
Nicholas Foulkes

Author, historian and journalist Nicholas Foulkes is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Financial Times How to Spend It and The Rake Magazine, and luxury editor of British GQ. Best known for his trilogy of nineteenth century British histories, Last of the Dandies, Dancing into Battle, and Gentlemen and Blackguards, he has published around thirty books on history, the arts and style. Among his recent works are a biography of the painter Bernard Buffet (Random House) and Time Tamed, a history of mankind's calibration of time from the Palaeolithic era to the moon landings (Simon & Schuster).

His books for Assouline include Bals: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century (2011); Swans: Legends of the Jet Society (2013); The Impossible Collection of Watches (2014) and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (2020). Since 1854, Louis Vuitton has brought unique designs to the world, combining innovation with style, always aiming for the finest quality. Today, the House remains faithful to the spirit of its founder, Louis Vuitton, who invented a genuine "Art of Travel" through luggage, bags and accessories which were as creative as they were elegant and practical.

Since then, audacity has shaped the story of Louis Vuitton. Faithful to its heritage, Louis Vuitton has opened its doors to architects, artists and designers across the years, all the while developing disciplines such as ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories, watches, jewellery, and fragrance. These carefully created products are testament to Louis Vuitton's commitment to fine craftsmanship.

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