Painter and teacher, born in London of Swiss parentage, he was early encouraged to paint. In the early 1930s he studied painting initially in Zürich and Basle, and attended Bolt Court, St Martin’s School of Art and the Royal College of Art. He left the Royal College after a few months and with the help of a little money left to him took a studio and began to paint professionally, encouraged by the patron Edward Marsh. His mother had a café in Charlotte Street, so he became familiar with Fitzrovia and was friendly with the Euston Road School painters, whose style left an imprint on his work. Around the late 1930s Buhler did work for Shell-Mex and BP; was associated with the AIA; began a notable series of portraits with Dickie Green and Stephen Spender, bought by the Contemporary Art Society in 1938; and contributed to exhibitions at the Leicester Galleries.