Bernard Buffet: The Invention of the Modern Mega-artist - Softcover

Foulkes, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099594226 ISBN 13: 9780099594222

Publisher: Arrow, 2017

Synopsis

As the first of the so-called Fabulous Five (Francoise Sagan, Roger Vadim, Brigitte Bardot and Yves Saint Laurent) Bernard Buffet was a leader of the cultural revolution that seemed to forge a new France from the shattered remains of a 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 of his work remains sharply divided. His 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. 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.

About this title

About the Author:

Nicholas Foulkes is the author of Bals: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century and Patek Philippe. He is a columnist for Country Life; a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and luxury editor of British GQ. He is the founding editor of 'Vanity Fair on Art.'.

Review:

"Splendidly unstuffy . . . first class." —the Times "A fascinating portrait of French cultural life in the second half of the 20th century, and of the contemporary art market, told with aplomb by Foulkes." —Sunday Express "[Nicholas Foulkes] has a sure eye and ear for the nuances of hierarchy in both Euro-trash’s sumps and the art world. His book is diligently researched, elegantly written and well-paced. He does period colour and local colour with discretion and seldom dramatizes incidents." —Country Life

"[A] fascinating account." —Bill Prince, Telegraph Luxury

"[A] thoroughly researched account of a life tinged with sadness, spent mostly in the studio, compulsively painting." —Independent

"Foulkes is really good at, the thing with which this book is happily stuffed, is snappy storytelling . . . [The] years of excess provide the book with its most entertaining stretches." —Sunday Times

"Whatever your opinion of the work of the prolific French expressionist Bernard Buffet, it’s not hard to be seduced by the premise of Nick Foulkes’ new biography, Bernard Buffet: The Invention of the Modern Mega-Artist." —Wallpaper*

"Foulkes has drowned himself in the subject and done some impressive research . . . He always has interesting things to say . . . bold and stylish." —Spectator

"Riveting." —Daily Mail

"Foulkes recounts, with skill and a sense of fun . . . especially good at evoking Fifties and Sixties French culture, with all the cigarette smoke, beautiful people and Paris-Match style is deserves." —Esquire

"A storyteller beyond compare." —The Rake

"A riveting read." —Metropolitan (Eurostar)

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0099594226
• ISBN 13: 9780099594222
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400