Bernard Buffet was a French expressionist painter. Best known for his representational work, Buffet's paintings are often figurative, graphic and central in their compositions. Buffet was a bold rejection of abstract art as a whole and was part of the anti-abstract group L'homme Témoin, or the Witness-Man, which passionately argued for the importance of representational art at a time when abstraction was beginning to dominate critical conversation. His oeuvre revolved around ideas about art history, death, sexuality, popular culture and politics, while often referring directly to contemporary events and artists. Buffet had a very prolific career, painting more than 8,000 works and garnering widespread popularity and praise, including dozens of international exhibitions and honours, such as being inducted into the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1974. Born in Paris, France, on 10 July 1928, the artist took his own life after a long battle with Parkinson's disease on 4 October 1999 in Tourtour, France at the age of 71.