Plasticien
Encyclopedia
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
In 1954, a young critic and painter newly returned from Paris, Rodolphe de Repentigny, reviewed an exhibition of four young artists whom he called Les Plasticiens. The name itself expressed their exclusive concern with the abstract properties of painting. They focused on colors, lines, contrast; completely rejecting the idea of Surrealism and their attachment to the idealism of the European Constructivist movement. He pointed out the difference of their approach from automatism. In his criticism he wrote:
The movement was launched in 1955 by the Manifeste des plasticiens, written by de Repentigny (under the name Jauran) and signed by Louis Belzile, Jean-Paul Jérôme and Fernand Toupin
. In the manifesto they acknowledged a kind of debt to the Automatists, recognizing their place in the revolutions that had helped to free the arts from “servitude to a materialistic ritual”.
They also called on artists to follow the example of Piet Mondrian
. The Plasticiens sought to objectify paintings instead of paint objects. For example, Toupin shaped his own canvases into geometric shapes so that they would be objects of another kind.
Guido Molinari
created Plasticien works between 1959 and 1962. Other artists associated with the movement are Claude Tousignant
Denis Juneau
, and Fernand Leduc
.
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...
non-figurative painting movement, which appeared around 1955 in 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....
. It was a more orderly style of painting in reaction to 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...
In 1954, a young critic and painter newly returned from Paris, Rodolphe de Repentigny, reviewed an exhibition of four young artists whom he called Les Plasticiens. The name itself expressed their exclusive concern with the abstract properties of painting. They focused on colors, lines, contrast; completely rejecting the idea of Surrealism and their attachment to the idealism of the European Constructivist movement. He pointed out the difference of their approach from automatism. In his criticism he wrote:
“Every painting must have its own particular form to make a totality, resistant to and not assimilated by an ambiance and where each part depends on the whole and vice-versa.”
The movement was launched in 1955 by the Manifeste des plasticiens, written by de Repentigny (under the name Jauran) and signed by Louis Belzile, Jean-Paul Jérôme and Fernand Toupin
Fernand Toupin
Fernand Toupin is a Québécois abstract painter best known as a member of the avant-garde movement Les Plasticiens...
. In the manifesto they acknowledged a kind of debt to the Automatists, recognizing their place in the revolutions that had helped to free the arts from “servitude to a materialistic ritual”.
They also called on artists to follow the example of Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
. The Plasticiens sought to objectify paintings instead of paint objects. For example, Toupin shaped his own canvases into geometric shapes so that they would be objects of another kind.
Guido Molinari
Guido Molinari
Guido Molinari, OC was a Canadian artist, known for his abstract paintings.-Biography:Molinari was born in Montreal of Italian heritage with parents from Cune, Tuscany and Naples, Campania...
created Plasticien works between 1959 and 1962. Other artists associated with the movement are Claude Tousignant
Claude Tousignant
Claude Tousignant, OC is a Canadian artist born in Montreal, Quebec on December 23, 1932.- Biography :Claude Tousignant is a Canadian abstract painter and sculptor born in Montreal, Quebec. He started his stylistic explorations in France during the early 1950s, but returned home wanting more...
Denis Juneau
Denis Juneau
Denis Juneau is a Canadian painter and a leading figure in the Canadian plasticien movement.-Biography:Juneau was born in Montreal in 1925...
, and Fernand Leduc
Fernand Leduc
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...
.