Born in Paris, France, Bernard Buffet studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts among classmates Maurice Boitel and Louis Vuillermoz. Starting in 1946, Buffet held at least one major exhibition every year through the 1950s and 60s, with his first major retrospective in 1958 at the age of 30. In 1955 Buffet was awarded the first prize by the magazine Connaissance des arts and named among the 10 best post-war artists. Buffet was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1973, the same here the Bernard Buffet Museum was inaugurated in Surugadaira, Japan. A member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Buffet was one of the most celebrated post-war artists of his time.

Selected Public Collections: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA Hirshorn Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, USA National Gallery of Victoria, Australia Tate Gallery, London, UK National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan Wellside Gallery, Seoul, South Korea Musée d'art moderne de Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France Selected Solo Exhibitions: Art Impressions book shop, Paris, France, 1947 Galerie David and Garnier, Paris, France, 1957 "Retrospective" Galerie Charpentier, Paris, France, 1958 The French Institute, Berlin, Germany, 1959 The Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1963 Underlinden Museum, Colmar, France, 1969 Gemeentmuseum, Wiegar Deurne, The Netherlands, 1977 The Postal Museum, Paris, France, 1978 Seedamm Cultural Center, Zurich, Switzerland, 1983 Refectoire des Jacobins, Toulouse, France, 1985 The Odakyu Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 1987 Pouchkine Museum, Moscow, Russia, 1991 Hyundai Museum, Seoul, South Korea, 1991 Gustave Courbet Museum, Ornans, France, 1993 Documents Halle, Kassel, Germany, 1994 Musée des Beaux-arts de Kaoshiung, Kaoshiung, Taiwan, 1996 "Rétrospective" Gemeentemuseum den haag, La Haye, The Netherlands, 2006 "La force de l'art – Superdefense" Galeries naitonales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, 2006 "Bernard Buffet" Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, France, 2009 "Bernard Buffet : Huiles et aquarelles" Galerie DIL, Paris, France, 2010 "Bernard Buffet et la Provence" Musée Bernard Buffet, Surugadaira, Japan, 2010-2011