 |
| Click any image to enlarge |
Bernard Buffet was a mid-20th century French artist. He painted and produced prints and he was very prolific creating 8,000 pieces over his career. He was an expressionist and anti-abstract, preferring figurative art. He was popular with the public, but less well regarded by the élites of the art world. Eventually, because of his flamboyant and ostentatious lifestyle, the general public began to turn on him as well and his reputation dimmed. Currently, his popularity with collectors is increasing as his works are reevaluated.
 |
| Bernard Buffet self-portrait |
Interesting. Very good.
ReplyDeleteHis is an interesting story. At his height, in the 1950s, he was considered to be on par with Pablo Picasso as an artist. However, because of his anti-abstract art stance he was less well regarded by the artistic elite. Replace artistic elite with large money art buyers and donors. Still, he hung in galleries and so he could make his money selling his work to a more general audience.
ReplyDeleteHe made a lot of money doing that. However, his early artworks concerned the suffering of the common people and as he made that money his lifestyle became absurdly lavish. Eventually, because his living standards didn't match his artistic themes, his regular fans and buyers started to consider him to be a massive hypocrite and so they fell away from him. He never had the elites, and so his reputation greatly diminished until by the late 20th century his works were considered gauche and vulgar.
That said, time is being kind to him, and his reputation is improving again.