Guy
Buffet was born in Paris on January 13, 1943. Although his parents were in the
restaurant business, they were fond of art. Guy Buffet learned early that his neighborhood
had once been the home of such artist figures as Chagall, Matisse, Picasso and Modigliani. "At
home there was always talk about these famous painters," he says, "and I used to
listen to these conversations while doing my homework at the kitchen table. I remember drawing
on napkins and the linen tablecloths while my brothers were busy with kitchen preparations."
On his twelfth birthday, his mother gave him his first box of paints, a couple of brushes, a wooden easel, and several canvases. The young Buffet was soon displaying paintings in the family restaurant.
At the age or 14 he was transferred from public school to the famed Beaus Arts de Toulon and later studied advanced painting in Paris. By age 18, he joined the French Navy where his artistic abilities were so distinguished, he wa named the official artist of the French Navy and given the prestigious assignment to "paint the world."
"In the South Pacific, while I was on shore leave and hitching with some fellow sailors," Buffet says," we were picked up by a motorist who was the mayor of the city. After visiting the ship and seeing some of my paintings, the mayor talked to the captain and received permission for me to exhibit by work in town." From this came a series of one-man exhibitions in the Hawaiian Islands introducing Buffet to what he called "Paradise." The year was 1963 and the rest, as they say is history.
What followed were several commissions from the Hawaiian State Foundation on Culture and the Arts which emblazoned major murals at libraries across the state of Hawaii.
Guy has also been commissioned by many corporations including Aloha Airlines, grand Mariner, Westin Hotels, and Ritz Carlton Hotels. He has literally toured the world with one-man shows and exhibitions. Guy's images are now commissioned for a wealth of items from men's dress ties and shirts, to dinner plates, coffee cups, postcards, calendars, and women's wear. Buffet is also the official artist for Champagne Perrier-Jouet with his work gracing each decorative gift box.
Original and watercolor paintings are also available.
