Bernard Buffet was a French Expressionist best known for his figurative and graphic works; he rejected Abstract art and passionately worked to argue the importance of representational art. He studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and then worked in the studio of the painter Eugène Narbonne. Thematically he revolved around ideas of art history, death, sexuality, popular culture, and politics while often directly referencing contemporary events and artists.