Denis Juneau (September 30, 1925 – October 6, 2014) was a Canadian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and a leading figure in the Canadian plasticien movement.

Biography

Juneau was born in

Verdun, Quebec Verdun ( , , ) is a Montreal borough, borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, located in the southeastern part of the island. Long known as a working class neighbourhood, it has experienced significant gentrification and s ...

, Canada in 1925. He studied at the

École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, with the guidance of

Alfred Pellan Alfred Pellan (born Alfred Pelland; 16 May 1906 – 31 October 1988) was an important figure in twentieth-century Canadian painting. Biography Alfred Pellan was born on 16 May 1906 in the Saint-Roch quarter of Quebec City. His mother, Régi ...

, amongst others, and became a notorious figure in the new wave of artists that

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

was to produce in the era of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The third child of 5, Juneau contracted

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

at the age of 18 months, resulting in total deafness. In addition, he contracted

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

at age 3, which paralysed right leg. Later, he went on to study in Italy, at the Sculoa di Disegno di

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

from 1954 to 1956. From Italy, he also retained a body language that was to characterize him for the rest of his long life. After his return to Montreal in 1956, he took part in a collective exhibition at the Denyse Delrue gallery, with other young painters of his generation. Two years later he had his first of many personal exhibitions in the same gallery. Juneau became recognized as one of the plasticien (or hard edge) painters such as Guido Molinari, Fernand Toupin, Claude Tousignant and Fernand Leduc. All through the 1960s, 1970s and part of the 1980s, he remained faithful to that form of painting until a year stay in Paris (1982), when he slowly turned to a more fluid and free style of expression. A prolific artist, he also produced many sculptures, designed symbols and logos, such as the one for the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

. His work has been shown in museums world wide. In 1986, he was the first artist to be awarded the Gershon Iskowitz prize. In 1987 The

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

presented a solo exhibition of his work. The

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is located in National Battlefields Park and is a complex of four buildings. Three of them were purpose-built for ...

held an important retrospective of his paintings and sculptures in 2001. Juneau received the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas, awarded by the government of Quebec in 2008. He was made a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

. Juneau died of pneumonia on October 6, 2014, at the

Hôpital Notre-Dame Hôpital Notre-Dame () is a hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on Sherbrooke Street East in the borough of Ville-Marie, across from La Fontaine Park. It was established in 1880, and has been at its present site since 1924. Ser ...

in Montreal.

References

Google Books

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Juneau, Denis 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters Artists from Montreal People from Verdun, Quebec 1925 births 2014 deaths Deaf artists Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts École des beaux-arts de Montréal alumni Canadian deaf people 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists Canadian artists with disabilities

Biography

See also

References

External links