Starting in the late 1950s, Jean Paul Lemieux’s artistic interests in memory and time culminated in a series of portraits of solitary figures against stark backgrounds. The years from 1956 until 1970 are referred to by critics as Lemieux’s classic period, and during this time his works would become imbued with the complex nature and loneliness of the human condition. By 1965, Lemieux, who had taught for many years at the École des beaux-arts de Quebec, would retire and devote himself entirely to painting.
In Alexandre we see a young man, dressed to the nines in a suit and bow tie that’s nearly as big as his head. We don’t know who Alexandre is, or what he’s dressed up for, but he peers out from his portrait with the corners of his red mouth slightly upturned in a slight smile. Despite his anonymity, he is filled with humanity. In many cases, Lemieux would paint figures from his own memories, conjuring them up onto the canvas: “I am painting … an interior world,” he once noted, “I have stored up a lot of things.”
Jean-Paul Lemieux, painter (b at Québec C, Qué 18 Nov 1904; d at Montréal, Qué 7 Nov 1990). Lemieux’s artistic universe is often classified as one of northern landscapes, flat, barren and infinite, but this preoccupation was only one characteristic of his work. He attended the École des beaux-arts in…
Jean-Paul Lemieux, painter (b at Québec C, Qué 18 Nov 1904; d at Montréal, Qué 7 Nov 1990). Lemieux’s artistic universe is often classified as one of northern landscapes, flat, barren and infinite, but this preoccupation was only one characteristic of his work. He attended the École des beaux-arts in Montréal from 1926-34, interrupted by a trip to Paris. After teaching at the École du meuble, he moved to the École des beaux-arts in Québec in 1937, remaining there until 1965. His work drew inspiration from Québec City and from Île aux Coudres, Charlevoix County, for which he held particular affection. His first paintings reflected daily life, portraits of relatives and familiar landscapes.
In the 1940s, Lemieux’s canvases (Lazare, 1941; La Fête-Dieu Québec, 1944) painted in fresco style summarized the attitudes of a people. His organization of subject and space was at that time influenced by the Italian primitivist school and early Québec folk art, which he collected avidly. Gradually his treatment of his subjects became simplified and his style more geometric. It was not, however, a stiff geometry, for the lines still vibrate, and colours are either transparent or pastel. Space opens up (Le Train de midi, 1956), and against a line of horizon appear hieratic figures (L’Été, 1959). Part of and yet distinct from the background, his figures evoke a world of dream and memory.
Often meditative and serious, Lemieux’s art can sometimes be humorous and lyrical, as in his illustrations of Gabrielle Roy’s books. His work is regularly exhibited in Canada and internationally, and he painted a number of commissioned portraits of public figures. In 1985 Lemieux published a limited edition bilingual collection of prints – one for each province and territory – entitled Canada-Canada.
