The Principal Themes in Bernard Buffet’s Painting
“Painting is not something to be discussed or analysed, but to be felt.”
Bernard Buffet
A leading figure of post-war French figurative art, Bernard Buffet developed a prolific, coherent and instantly recognisable body of work. Through more than 8,000 paintings, drawings, watercolours, lithographs and engravings, he explored recurring themes that reflect his austere and intense vision of the world.
Bernard Buffet: An Austere and Singular Vision of the World
Bernard Buffet developed a worldview marked by solitude, fragility and inner tension.
With bold black lines and sharp contours, he depicted elongated figures, fixed gazes and faces marked by experience. Even when painting landscapes or luminous scenes, an underlying tension remains.
This stylistic coherence runs through all the themes he addressed.
What Are Bernard Buffet’s Major Themes?
Throughout his career, Bernard Buffet pursued a structured thematic approach. Among the principal subjects of his work are:
Provence and Saint-Tropez left a lasting imprint on his artistic creation. The studios at Domaine de la Baume and Château l’Arc, near Saint-Tropez, became symbolic places within his work.
These themes share a constant: a dramatic vision of existence expressed through taut drawing and rigorous composition.
Clowns in Bernard Buffet’s Work
Clowns represent one of Bernard Buffet’s most emblematic themes.
Through these melancholic figures, he developed a symbolic form of self-portraiture. Often solitary and solemn, his clowns express existential anxiety.
These works greatly contributed to his international reputation and remain among the most recognisable in his oeuvre.
> Learn more about Bernard Buffet’s clowns
Venice: A Pivotal Series
The series devoted to Venice marks a significant turning point in his work.
For the first time, beyond portraiture, human figures appear within his landscapes: gondoliers and silhouettes animating the lagoon.
Among his preferred Venetian motifs are:
- Ca’ d’Oro
- Isola di San Giorgio
- Santa Maria della Salute
- St Mark’s Campanile
- The Doge’s Palace
- The Bridge of Sighs
Through Venice, Bernard Buffet combined architecture, light and graphic discipline.
> View Bernard Buffet lithographs of Venice
Provence and Saint-Tropez
Provence occupies a central place in Bernard Buffet’s life and work.
The light and colours of the South gradually transformed his palette. Saint-Tropez is also where he met Annabel Buffet. The couple settled at Domaine de la Baume, which became a symbolic place of creation.
Provence inspired structured and luminous landscapes, always marked by his distinctive graphic signature.
> Learn more about Bernard Buffet’s Provence and Saint-Tropez
Toreros and Bullfighting
The theme of bullfighting inspired Bernard Buffet between 1958 and 1967.
He produced several oils on canvas dedicated to toreros and corrida scenes, including La Corrida, Torero and Desplante de rodillas.
Through bullfighting, he explored dramatic tension, confrontation and staged combat.
The Passion of Christ and Religious Themes
In 1952, Bernard Buffet devoted an exhibition to the Passion of Christ. In 1961, he created a major series on this subject, now preserved in the Vatican.
Religious subjects occupy an important place in his oeuvre, allowing him to express a spiritual and tragic dimension that permeates his work.
Thematic Exhibitions: A Unique Approach
Between 1952 and 2000, gallerist Maurice Garnier proposed that Bernard Buffet organise an annual thematic exhibition.
This serial approach is exceptional in contemporary art history. Each February, a new theme was presented at Galerie Maurice Garnier.
Among the successive themes were:
1952 – The Passion of Christ
1953 – Landscapes
1954 – Interiors
1955 – Horrors of War
1956 – The Circus
1957 – Paris Landscapes
1958 – Joan of Arc
1959 – New York
1960 – Birds
1961 – Portraits of Annabel
1962 – The Chapel of Château l’Arc
1963 – Venice
1964 – The Museum of Bernard Buffet
1965 – Flayed Figures
1966 – Undressed Women
1967 – The Corrida
1968 – Beaches
1969 – Churches of France
1970 – The Loire Châteaux
1971 – The Madwomen
1972 – Danièle and Virginie
1973 – Boats
1974 – Landscapes
1975 – Landscapes
1976 – Snow Landscapes
1977 – Dante’s Inferno
1978 – The French Revolution
1979 – Flowers
1980 – Nudes
1981 – Japan
1982 – Self-Portraits
1983 – Landscapes
1984 – Small Formats
1985 – The Automobile
1986 – The Netherlands
1987 – Views of Venice
1988 – Sumo and Kabuki
1988 – Still Lifes
1989 – Don Quixote
1990 – Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
1990 – Brittany
1991 – Views of New York
1991 – Memories of Italy
1992 – Saint Petersburg
1993 – Empire or The Pleasures of War
1993 – A Provençal Stroll
1994 – The Odyssey
1995 – The Seven Deadly Sins
1996 – Beijing
1997 – Regattas
1998 – The House
1999 – My Monkeys
2000 – Death
This succession illustrates his conceptual rigour and consistency. Each series deepened a specific universe, reinforcing the coherence of his oeuvre.
Theatre and Literature in Bernard Buffet’s Work
Bernard Buffet maintained a close relationship with literature.
He illustrated:
- Les Chants de Maldoror by Lautréamont (1952)
- Recherche de la Pureté by Jean Giono (1953)
- The Passion of Christ (1954)
- La Voix Humaine by Jean Cocteau (1957)
- The Fantastic Voyages of Cyrano de Bergerac (1958)
- Saint-Cast, poem by Baudelaire (1962)
- Dante’s Inferno (1976)
He also created stage designs for theatre and opera, and two postage stamp projects:
- Le Concours des Jeunes Compagnies (1948)
- La Chambre de Georges Simenon for Roland Petit’s ballets (1955)
- Le Rendez-Vous Manqué by Françoise Sagan (1955)
- Patron by Marcel Aymé (1959)
- Carmen by Georges Bizet for the Marseille Opera (1962)
In 1978, he was commissioned to design a three-franc postage stamp depicting the Institut and the Pont des Arts.
In 1991, he created a 25.70-franc stamp titled Terre Adélie Track for the French Southern and Antarctic Territories.
These collaborations demonstrate the breadth of his artistic practice.
Summary: The Themes of Bernard Buffet
Bernard Buffet’s major themes include clowns, the Passion of Christ, war, bullfighting, Venice, Provence, landscapes and literature.
Through these varied subjects, he developed a coherent body of work marked by graphic tension, compositional rigour and a dramatic vision of existence.
His repeated and deepened thematic approach over nearly fifty years forms one of the foundations of his artistic identity.