The Mathematical Eye of Étienne Buffet To understand the work of Étienne Buffet, one must look past the surface of his subjects and recognize the structural logic beneath. He was not merely a painter of French life; he was an observer who approached the canvas with the precision of a mathematician. His writing, specifically Essai de théorie intégrale de la𝙲 peinture, la doctrine, reveals a mind preoccupied with the underlying geometry of art. This was no mere hobbyist. Buffet applied a rigorous, calculated viewpoint to his compositions, seeking a formal truth that went beyond simple represen…