4
Léon Bellefleur, Légende provençale, 1959
Estimate:
CA$10,000 - CA$15,000
Sold
CA$13,200
Timed Auction
BYDealers - Historical and Post-War Canadian Art / Art canadien historique et d’après-guerre
ARTIST
Léon Bellefleur
Size
29,2 x 22,9 cm / 11.5 x 9 in
Description
En 1948, Léon Bellefleur signe le manifeste Prisme d’yeux, ajoutant sa voix à celle d’un groupe d’artistes québécois dont le peintre Alfred Pellan est la figure de proue. Publié quelques mois avant le Refus global, le texte met de l’avant l’affirmation d’un art indépendant et ouvert sur les esthétiques les plus variées, où la liberté d’expression a préséance sur les doctrines radicales. L’œuvre de Bellefleur est révélée deux ans plus tard lors d’une exposition conjointe avec le peintre Fritz Brandtner au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, à l’occasion de laquelle une trentaine de tableaux dévoilent « l’inspiration d’un courant surréaliste personnalisé qui traduit l’envers tumultueux des rêves et de l’imaginaire nocturne en formes pulsives et improvisées », écrit Guy Robert. Libéré de ses charges d’instituteur en 1954, Bellefleur entreprend un voyage en France et se consacre entièrement à son art. La reconnaissance officielle de l’artiste vient en 1968, quand le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada (autrefois nommé la Galerie nationale du Canada) organise une rétrospective qui partira en tournée dans trois musées. En 1977, Léon Bellefleur est le premier lauréat du prix Paul-Émile-Borduas.
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In 1948, Léon Bellefleur signed the Prisme d’Yeux manifesto, adding his voice to a group of Quebec artists led by painter Alfred Pellan. Published several months before Refus global, the manifesto makes the case for an independent art open to highly diverse aesthetics, with freedom of expression taking precedence over radical doctrines. Bellefleur’s work was shown two years later in a joint exhibition with painter Fritz Brandtner at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, in which around 30 paintings revealed “the inspiration of a personalized surrealist tendency that translates the turbulent depths of dreams and the nocturnal imagination into spontaneous pulsating forms.” Freed from his work as a teacher in 1954, Bellefleur moved to France to dedicate himself fully to his art. Formal recognition came in 1968, when the National Gallery of Canada organized a retrospective that subsequently toured three museums. In 1977, Bellefleur was the first recipient of the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas.
//
In 1948, Léon Bellefleur signed the Prisme d’Yeux manifesto, adding his voice to a group of Quebec artists led by painter Alfred Pellan. Published several months before Refus global, the manifesto makes the case for an independent art open to highly diverse aesthetics, with freedom of expression taking precedence over radical doctrines. Bellefleur’s work was shown two years later in a joint exhibition with painter Fritz Brandtner at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, in which around 30 paintings revealed “the inspiration of a personalized surrealist tendency that translates the turbulent depths of dreams and the nocturnal imagination into spontaneous pulsating forms.” Freed from his work as a teacher in 1954, Bellefleur moved to France to dedicate himself fully to his art. Formal recognition came in 1968, when the National Gallery of Canada organized a retrospective that subsequently toured three museums. In 1977, Bellefleur was the first recipient of the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas.
Medium
Huile sur panneau / Oil on board
Signature
signée et datée au bas à droite; signée, titrée et datée sur un papier au dos / signed and dated lower right; signed, titled and dated on a piece of paper verso
Provenance
Galerie L'Art français, Montréal
Galerie Michel-Ange, Montréal
Canadian Fine Arts Gallery, Toronto
Collection particulière / Private collection, Toronto
Galerie Michel-Ange, Montréal
Canadian Fine Arts Gallery, Toronto
Collection particulière / Private collection, Toronto