Valentin Gallery is an art gallery in Quebec. Created in 1934, it was first called "L'Art français" and had its start on Laurier Street in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. Owners Lucienne (1900-1992) and Louis (1890-1956) Lange initially showed works by French artists. By the 1940s they were offering art by

Marc-Aurèle Fortin Marc-Aurèle Fortin (March 14, 1888 – March 2, 1970) was a Québécois painter. Career Marc-Aurèle Fortin was born in 1888 in Ste-Rose, Quebec, son of Thomas Fortin. He studied in Montreal under Ludger Larose and Edmond Dyonnet, then un ...

and

Philip Surrey Philip Surrey LL. D. (1910-1990) was a Canadian artist known for his figurative scenes of Montreal. A founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society, and Montreal Men's Press Club (now Montreal Press Club), Surrey was part of Montreal’s cult ...

.Bernard Mendelman, "Two Montreal galleries celebrate milestones", The Suburban, 19 October 1994, A-26 In 1975, Jean-Pierre Valentin purchased the gallery. The gallery moved to its present

Sherbrooke Street Sherbrooke Street (officially in french: rue Sherbrooke) is a major east–west artery and at in length, is the second longest street on the Island of Montreal. The street begins in the town of Montreal West and ends on the extreme tip of ...

location laterLolly Golt, "Dealing in the Fine" in Montreal Living, p. 37 and changed the name to Valentin Gallery.

Galerie L'Art français

In the beginning, L'Art français was a shop selling frames and reproductions of French paintings. The owners were Louis and Lucienne Lange, who came to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1930. Louis was from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and Lucienne from France. They were ready to go back to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

when they decided to open the framing gallery on Laurier Avenue, incorporating print sales for better access to the public. Through the framing activity, they started meeting artists who came there to have their paintings framed. In 1936, the first show by Quebec artist Fleurimont Constantineau was the starting point in a non-stop series of exhibitions. Mr. Lange then decided to travel to Europe, especially to France and Belgium, in order to buy paintings. The gallery also exhibited young

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

painters."L'Art Français in Montreal", Gallery Profile, in ''Le Collectionneur'', Vol.1, n°2, 1978 While it opened with a stock entirely from France, World War II interrupted importations so it went Canadian. In 1943 and 1944 two solo exhibitions of Henri Masson and the first solo of René Richard were held. Sculptures by

Jordi Bonet Jordi Bonet i Godó, known professionally as Jordi Bonet (7 May 1932 – 25 December 1979), was a Spanish-born Canadian painter, ceramist, muralist, and sculptor who worked principally in Quebec. Life and work Born in Barcelona, Spain of Cata ...

were also exhibited. In the 1950s, painters such as John Little were regularly exhibited. Canadian painters were now the main feature of exhibitions at L'Art français. The Lange also sold the paintings of painters such as Adrien Hébert, Suzor-Côté,

Alfred Laliberté Alfred Laliberté (19 May 1877 – 13 January 1953) was a French-Canadian sculptor and painter based in Montreal. His output includes more than 900 sculptures in bronze, marble, wood, and plaster. Many of his sculptures depict national figures ...

, Clarence Gagnon, Horatio Walker, Cornelius Krieghoff, Coburn, Lyman,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, and also abstract surrealist works by Riopelle, Pellan, Borduas, and Jean Dallaire. In 1956, Mr. Lange died and his wife decided to carry on. She exhibited

Miyuki Tanobe Miyuki Tanobe (born 1937 in Morioka, Japan) is a Japanese-born Canadian painter, based in Montreal, Quebec. She is known for her paintings of the everyday life of Montreal residents. Her work is in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine ...

. During these years, Stanley Cosgrove, Ozias Leduc, Paul Soulikias and

Goodridge Roberts William Goodridge Roberts (1904–1974) was a Canadian painter known for his landscape paintings, still lifes, figure paintings and interiors. He was also a teacher. Career Goodridge Roberts was the son of poet and novelist George Edward Theod ...

exhibited their works here."Gallery Jean-Pierre Valentin" in ''Parcours'', Vol.2, n°2, March 1996-March 1997 The gallery exhibited also Henri Masson, Berthe des Clayes, Edmund Alleyn, Ghitta Caiserman, P.V Beaulieu, Lismer, Borenstein, Pilot,

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

, Brymner, Cullen, Franchère, Adrien Hébert, Massicotte, Plamondon,

John Young Johnstone John Young Johnstone (November12, 1887February13, 1930) was a Canadian Impressionist painter, known for his paintings of life in city, town or countryside, as well as for scenes of Montreal's Chinatown. Biography Johnstone is considered to b ...

, Bourassa, Laliberté and

Henri Julien Henri Julien, baptised Octave-Henri Julien (14 May 1852 – 17 September 1908), was a Québécois artist and cartoonist noted for his work for the '' Canadian Illustrated News'' and for his political cartoons in the '' Montreal Daily ...

Valentin Gallery

Since the early 1970s, the gallery exhibits Miyuki Tanobe, young Canadian painters and more "classical" painters such as Marc-Aurèle Fortin. The

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec ( en, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is situated in Battlefield Park and is a complex consisting of four bui ...

had access to the Fortin's research resources for an exhibition about the artist. The gallery also helps tracking down works in private collections for exhibitions in museums. Instead of focusing on French art, the gallery forged ahead by choosing to display Québécois and Canadian artists like Lemieux, Riopelle, Suzor-Coté. Retrospective exhibitions were held with artists such as

Molinari Molinari is an Italian language occupational surname for a miller. Notable people with this surname include: * Adriana Molinari, American (née Argentine) pornographic actress * Alberto Molinari (born 1965), Italian actor, producer, and director ...

, Dallaire, Borduas, Lyman. The gallery also exhibits young sculptors and painters such as Christian Deberdt, Geneviève Jost, Élène Gamache et Pearl Levy, Jeannette Perreault, Maja Vodanovic, Henry Wanton Jones, Stanislav Germanov, Thérèse Lacasse, Guylaine Beauchemin. At each anniversary the gallery presents a selection of Canada classics.

Jean-Pierre Valentin

Born in France in 1949, he is a master in International Trade after studies in a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

commerce school. He was a Paris-based art dealer who travelled the world selling works of art. In 1977, he occupied a position on the Board of Trustees of the Professional Art Dealers Association of Canada. In 1981, he became the youngest president and was re-elected in 1983. He has given conferences on how to build an art collection and on how to invest in art, on the importance of a good appraisal and on the works of Marc-Aurèle Fortin.''Montreal print collectors society. Newsletter'', Vol. 15, n°5, February 1999 He is working on a catalogue raisonné of this artist.

References

External links

Valentin Gallery
{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Quebec History of Montreal 1934 establishments in Quebec Art galleries established in 1934