JACQUES DE TONNANCOUR (1917-2005, Quebec) Abstract

Signed and dated 1965. Jacques Godefroy De Tonnancour (1917 - 2005). Oil on canvas. 20 x 16 in., 21 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (framed). Remnants or a gallery or exhibition label verso. Biography from Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art: Jacques Godefroy de Tonnancour was one of the most important Quebec and Canadian contemporary painters. He studied at the former École des Beaux-Arts du Québec starting in 1937, and worked in Rio de Janeiro 1945-1946.From his early works in Laurentian landscapes, he evolved into an abstract style influenced by his friends Alfred Pellan, Paul-Émile Borduas, and Goodridge Roberts. His manifesto, Prisme d\'yeux, was published in 1948 with Pellan\'s support; it diverged from the influential Refus global, published around the same time. He was the Canadian delegate to a UNESCO conference in Florence in 1950. He taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, and at UQAM after the École became part of it, from 1969 to 1982.He was awarded a medal by the Canada Council in 1968, became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979), won the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste\'s Philippe-Hébert medal in 1980, and was made an Officer of the Ordre du Québec in 1993. He has received honorary degrees from McGill and Concordia universities, and is a professor emeritus of UQAM.After 1981, he moved away from the art world to undertake the study of insects, a childhood interest, and published a book, Les insectes: monstres ou splendeurs cachées, in 2002; it won the Prix Marcel-Couture.
Condition Report: Good condition