Conrad Buff was born in Speicher, Switzerland on January 15, 1886. He was trained as a lace designer at the School of Arts & Crafts in St. Galen, Switzerland and at age 18 studied briefly in Munich. He immigrated to the United States 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 1906. While supporting himself as a house painter, he made frequent painting trips into the deserts of Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. He developed a lifelong friendship with Maynard Dixon who often accompanied him on his sketching trips. Buff was a resident of Pasadena and Laguna Hills where he died on March 11, 1975. His works won numerous awards in Southern California exhibitions.

Biography courtesy of DeRu's Fine Arts, www.antiquesandfineart.com/derus