Right after WWII, when abstract and figurative art were being treated as in opposition to each other, people who were seeking new figurative forces to counter the trend to abstraction were welcoming the rise of a young figurative painter and boosting him into stardom. That was Bernard Buffet. Buffet himself stuck to the figurative and continued to depict “things that have form,” of all sorts, throughout his life.
But when asked in an interview, “Did you ever think you’d like to try abstract painting?” Buffet answered,

All works are “abstract.”
As in figurative art, it must be understandable by everyone. People must find something there, in aesthetic terms.
All arts are “abstract” in this sense.

What do we find in Buffet’s work? Let us address each work, face to face, studying the “things that have form” that Buffet depicted, and see what we can find there.