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Jean Paul Lemieux
was born in Quebec City in 1904. While his earlier
landscapes were influenced by the aesthetic of the Group
of Seven and the American Social Realist painters, by the
1950s he had defined his own vision in landscape.
In his first
renderings of picturesque subjects, Lemieux showed himself
to be an accomplished draughtsman, faithful to his
training at the École des beaux arts in Montreal. Then,
like many artists of his generation, he began to find
inspiration in the everyday life of the middle class, and
in the countryside of Charlevoix County where he spent
many summers.
The Montreal
public was first introduced to Lemieux in the 1930s when
his work was included in the Spring Exhibitions of the Art
Association of Montreal. In its critique of the 1938 show,
La Presse described Jean Paul Lemieux as “the most
impressive painter of the younger generation.”
After spending a
sabbatical year in France (1954-55), with his wife and
daughter Anne Sophie, Lemieux returned to Canada.
He would later
say: "I was completely lost in France. Anything I was able
to paint there was reminiscent of Monet and Bonnard … As
soon as I was back in Canada, I began to paint in a very
different fashion."
During the course
of his artistic career Lemieux broadened the horizons for
Canadian landscape painting through his creation of stark,
haunting images that capture humanity’s anxiety and
solitude in the face of destiny. His portrayal of the
wide, open spaces of the winter landscape employs a style
and manner that differs dramatically from the art of his
contemporaries.
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