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| BUFF, Conrad (1886-1975). Painter, muralist, illustrator, lithographer.
Conrad Buff was born in Speicher, Switzerland on Jan. 15, 1886. Buff was trained as a lace designer at the School of Arts and Crafts in St Gallen, Switzerland and at age 18 studied briefly in Munich. Conrad Buff immigrated to the U.S. in 1905 and, since he spoke no English, moved to Wisconsin where there was a large Swiss population. There he worked as a sheep herder before moving to Los Angeles in 1907. While supporting himself as a house painter, Buff began painting landscapes of the deserts of Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Conrad Buff developed a lifelong friendship with Maynard Dixon who often accompanied him on these trips. A self-taught artist, he used a pointillist technique to create stark mountain and desert landscapes. In 1922 he married Mary Marsh, an artist and assistant curator at the LACMA. Mrs. Buff gave up painting to write children's books which her husband illustrated. Buff was a resident of Pasadena and Laguna Hills where he died on March 11, 1975. His work won many awards in southern California exhibitions.
Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California 1786-1940"
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