Fernand Leduc
Encyclopedia
Fernand Leduc is a Canadian
abstract expressionist
painter who was a major figure in the Quebec contemporary art scene in the 1940s and 1950s. During his 50-year career, Leduc has participated in many expositions in Canada, France and other countries. He was born in Viauville
, Montreal
, Quebec
.
. After graduating in 1943, he left the church and shortly after became a member of the Contemporary Arts Society. Leduc played a major role in forming the group known as the Les Automatistes
, co-signing the Refus Global
manifesto, but not contributing to the illustrated book. He moved to Paris
with his wife Thérèse Renaud in 1946 and slowly distanced himself from the group. There he participated in an exhibition, called Automatisme, at the Galerie du Luxembourg that examined the group. By late 1948, he had distanced himself from them and had joined the Plasticien
s. In Paris, Leduc developed a friendship with the painter Jean Bazaine, whose art was then in the category of abstracted landscape. This contact was an influence on Leduc's works of the early 1950s.
He returned from Paris in 1953. With Paul-Émile Borduas
, the theoretician of the Automatist group, he was the one who maintained the closest ties with the French surrealists
. Leduc moved to a type of hard-edge abstraction
in 1955. He founded the Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montréal (Association des artistes non-figuratifs de Montréal) in 1956. He experimented at that time with various forms of spontaneous and gestural nonfigurative painting, his works gradually becoming more involved with interactions and contrast of colours.
Leduc returned to France in 1959 and stayed there until 1970, when he came back for two years to teach in Montréal. In 1979 he was awarded the Louis-Philippe Hébert Prize and the Paul-Émile Borduas Prize in 1988.
Leduc currently lives in Paris and Italy.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
abstract expressionist
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painter who was a major figure in the Quebec contemporary art scene in the 1940s and 1950s. During his 50-year career, Leduc has participated in many expositions in Canada, France and other countries. He was born in Viauville
Viauville
Viauville is a is a Montreal neighbourhood in the borough of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Established in 1892 as a result of an urban plan made by Charles-Théodore Viau and the former city of Maisonneuve, and part of the aforementioned city, Viauville never obtained municipality status.Viauville...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Biography
In 1938 Leduc started his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts de MontréalÉcole des Beaux-Arts de Montréal
École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal was an educational institution founded in Quebec in 1922. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society was instrumental in its creation....
. After graduating in 1943, he left the church and shortly after became a member of the Contemporary Arts Society. Leduc played a major role in forming the group known as the Les Automatistes
Les Automatistes
Les Automatistes were a group of Québécois artistic dissidents from Montreal, Quebec. The movement was founded in the early 1940s by painter Paul-Émile Borduas. "Les Automatistes" were so called because they were influenced by Surrealism and its theory of automatism...
, co-signing the Refus Global
Refus Global
Le Refus global, or Total Refusal, was an anti-establishment and anti-religious manifesto released on August 9, 1948 in Montreal by a group of sixteen young Québécois artists and intellectuals that included Paul-Émile Borduas and Jean-Paul Riopelle....
manifesto, but not contributing to the illustrated book. He moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with his wife Thérèse Renaud in 1946 and slowly distanced himself from the group. There he participated in an exhibition, called Automatisme, at the Galerie du Luxembourg that examined the group. By late 1948, he had distanced himself from them and had joined the Plasticien
Plasticien
The Plasticien movement was a Canadian non-figurative painting movement, which appeared around 1955 in Quebec. It was a more orderly style of painting in reaction to Les Automatistes...
s. In Paris, Leduc developed a friendship with the painter Jean Bazaine, whose art was then in the category of abstracted landscape. This contact was an influence on Leduc's works of the early 1950s.
He returned from Paris in 1953. With Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas
Paul-Émile Borduas was a Canadian painter known for his abstract paintings. He was also an activist for the separation of church and state, especially for art, in Quebec.- Biography :...
, the theoretician of the Automatist group, he was the one who maintained the closest ties with the French surrealists
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. Leduc moved to a type of hard-edge abstraction
Hard-edge painting
Hard-edge painting is painting in which abrupt transitions are found between color areas. Color areas are often of one unvarying color. The Hard-edge painting style is related to Geometric abstraction, Op Art, Post-painterly Abstraction, and Color Field painting.-History of the term:The term was...
in 1955. He founded the Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montréal (Association des artistes non-figuratifs de Montréal) in 1956. He experimented at that time with various forms of spontaneous and gestural nonfigurative painting, his works gradually becoming more involved with interactions and contrast of colours.
Leduc returned to France in 1959 and stayed there until 1970, when he came back for two years to teach in Montréal. In 1979 he was awarded the Louis-Philippe Hébert Prize and the Paul-Émile Borduas Prize in 1988.
Leduc currently lives in Paris and Italy.
Selected expositions
- 1950–1951:
- 1950:
- 1955:
- 1956:
- 1958:
- 1959:
- 1961:
- 1962:
- 1963–1965:
- 1966:
- 1970 ; Mendel Art GalleryMendel Art GalleryThe Mendel Art Gallery is a major creative cultural centre in City Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, opened in 1964. Housing a permanent collection of works of local, regional and national significance, the Mendel is also known for its public programs for all ages. Its current executive director and...
, Saskatoon; Memorial University of Newfoundland, Saint-John; Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton; Université de Sherbrooke; The Robert Mc Laughin Gallery, Oshawa - 1972:
- 1973: ; Thielson Gallery, London, Ontario;
- 1974:
- 1975: (Ten days over Canada), Lyon, France; , Agnes Etherington Art CentreAgnes Etherington Art CentreThe Agnes Etherington Art Centre is in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and is operated by Queen's University. The centre holds 12-15 exhibitions annually, as well as artists' talks and performances, public lectures, symposia, workshops, and school and family programs...
, Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
et York University, Toronto, Ontario; , House of Canada, London, United Kingdom; - 1980:
- 1984:
- 1985:
- 1986:
- 1997:
- 2001:
- 2011:
Sources
- Biographie par la Galerie Michel-Ange
- The Canadian Encyclopedia 2000
- Galerie Graff bio, expositions
- The Automatists and the Book
External links
- Musée du Québec, Québec With a painting L'Alpiniste, 1957.
- Untitled drawing from 1942-1943
- Composition, 1955