Bernard Buffet – La Rochelle

Bernard Buffet was born in Paris on July 10, 1928; and it was here that he spent his childhood, receiving elementary education at the École des Jésuites. Although he was expelled from the Lycee Carnot in Paris in 1939 for his irreverent attitude toward academia, his artistic talent gained him admittance to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National School of the Fine Arts) in 1943 at the age of 15. Here he worked in the studio of painter Eugène Narbonne, studying approximately two years alongside fellow classmates Maurice Boitel and Louis Vuillermoz.

Late in life, Bernard Buffet was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which eventually robbed him of his ability to work. On October 4, 1999, at age 71, he chose to end his life, committing suicide in his home in southern France by placing a plastic bag over his head and taping it shut around his neck. Six years later, his wife, Annabel, died on August 3, 2005 at age 77.