Buffet, Annabel 1928-2005

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Buffet, Annabel 1928-2005
(Annabel)

PERSONAL:

Born May 10, 1928, in Paris, France; died August 3, 2005, in Paris, France; married Bernard Buffet (an artist; died, 1999).

CAREER:

Writer, actress, model. Appeared in films, including Désordre, 1949, Le désordre à vingt ans, 1967, and Bernard Buffet: From Here to Eternity, 1999.

WRITINGS:

(As Annabel) Bonnes manières, roman (novel), Julliard (Paris, France), 1961.

La corria du veau d'or; roman (novel), Julliard (Paris, France), 1963.

Midi à 14 heures (novel), Julliard (Paris, France), 1966.

Les vieux gamins, roman (novel), Julliard (Paris, France), 1967.

Faux Jules, roman (novel), Julliard (Paris, France), 1969.

3 petit tours et … 40 ans, preface by Danièle Heymann, Julliard (Paris, France), 1973.

(With Luc Fournol) Saint-Tropez d'hier et d'aujourd'hui (travel), S. Messinger (Paris, France), 1981.

D'amour et d'eau fraîche, S. Messinger (Paris, France), 1986.

Beaux mensonges: roman (novel), S. Messinger (Paris, France), 1987.

Rêve sera plus long que la nuit: roman (novel), S. Messinger (Paris, France), 1990.

Puces de Saint-Ouen, Editions P. de Moncan (Paris, France), 1993.

Post-scriptum (memoir), Plon (Paris, France), 2001.

(With Jean-Claude Lamy) Bernard Buffet: secrets d'atelier/Bernard Buffet: The Secret Studio, photographs by Luc Fournol and Benjamin Auger, Flammarion (Paris, France), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Annabel Buffet was a French actress, model, and writer known primarily for her numerous autobiographical novels. As a model, she became the subject of numerous paintings by Bernard Buffet. Their meeting in 1958 changed her life radically. As a fledgling writer, she had earned her living as a model and cabaret performer before meeting the established painter. Thereafter, she continued to write novels, publishing her first book in 1961 and ending her literary career with a study of her husband's work. Annabel Buffet, however, was modest about her literary achievements. Her obituary in the London Times quotes her self-assessment: "I have never thought of myself as a great writer."

Buffet's husband committed suicide in 1999; her parents had also taken their own lives. In 2004, Buffet collaborated with Jean-Claude Lamy on the text of the bilingual Bernard Buffet: secrets d'atelier/Bernard Buffet: The Secret Studio. D'Arcy Curwen, reviewing that work for the Library Journal, called it "an intimate portrait of the little-known French artist." Though his paintings proved popular, the French art establishment tended to underrate Bernard Buffet, for his figurative painting was seen to be outmoded in the days of abstract expressionism. F.A. Trapp, reviewing Bernard Buffet in Choice, called the book a "well-rendered and trustworthy memorial to [Bernard Buffet's] lifelong efforts."