Conrad Buff

Desert Scape Earth and Sky: Grand Canyon Series, ca. 1940
Oil on canvas
35 ¾ x 53 inches

Artist Quotes:

“I found a way of expressing that clarity of air by broader application of colors, by more bright application of brighter colors.” Conrad Buff from Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Dixon

“Landscape painting has been my favorite thing practically all my life. But I found out that the way that I saw landscape, especially the western landscape that I was so much in love with, wasn’t the way the public saw it. I just couldn’t get interested in the verbenas and the sunsets. I kept on painting these magnificent forms that I saw and that I was interested in, and I tried to get the magnificent blues that we saw on the desert, which wasn’t so easy to harmonize with the rest of the landscape.” Conrad Buff from Oral History Interview with Elizabeth Dixon

Additional Links:

Conrad Buff, interviewed by Elizabeth Dixon, Oral History Program, UCLA Art Library, 1964. Buff discusses his painting process, how his technique has changed over time, his strategic use of color, his interest in mural painting, and why he was drawn to western landscapes.

Excerpts from 300 page interview.