Jean Gaudreau (born May 27, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

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 engraver.

Biography

Jean Gaudreau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. At age 10, he studied drawing at the ''

Séminaire des Pères Maristes The Séminaire des Pères Maristes (SPM) is a private, coeducational high school in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is situated on the heights of Sillery and run by a team of Marist Fathers and laymen In religious organizations, the laity () � ...

''. He learned traditional techniques, such as ''

Mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

,'' and the role of

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

in drawing. At 12, he painted Quebec’s old port. The painting depicted

stevedore A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockwork ...

s, boats, docks, the river, and the

cap Diamant Cap Diamant ( English: Cape Diamond) is a cape on an edge of the Promontory of Quebec and on which Quebec City is located, formed by the confluence of a bend in the St. Lawrence River to the south and east, and the much smaller Saint-Charles River ...

. His paintings during this period showed influences from countryside landscape artists. As a teen, he studied under Jean Paul Lemieux and held his first solo exhibition at 17. He later worked with

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

from Château Frontenac’s South turret remains.

Reactions

According to Robert Bernier, "Chance encounters and the spirit of his artistic production have led Gaudreau to associate dance and performance art with his painting for many years. Both through the themes he explores and in the organization of events, the body has become central to his work." Nathalie Côté has said "He is without a doubt, a singular figure of the Quebec visual arts world." Juliette Laurent said, "The brush strokes recall Riopelle, Pollock, Stella, Klimt and Ferron; some traces evoke the Automatists and the flights dear to lyrical abstracts." Admittedly, the artist employs a postmodern approach that tends integrates various styles, evident in the inclusion of both figurative and non-figurative elements, depictions of women with sensual expressions, sinuous lines, and the juxtaposition of vibrant colors with gilding. His painting's predominant gestural quality and its intentionally unfinished, primal nature are attempts to forge a personal style." In 2008, Gaudreau was presented as one of the figures of Quebec's

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

scene by

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair lo ...

during the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Quebec City. In his animated film '' Le Moulin à images'', Lepage projected images of artworks by Gaudreau next to works from Jean Paul Lemieux, Martin Bureau,

Jean-Paul Riopelle Jean-Paul Riopelle, (October 7, 1923 – March 12, 2002) was a Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec. He had one of the longest and most important international careers of the sixteen signatories of the '' Refus Global'', the 1948 manifest ...

, and

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 ...

among others, on grain silos located in

Anse au Foulon Anse au Foulon () is a small cove in Quebec, Canada. It was located about one and one-half miles above Quebec City, in the formerly independent town of Sillery, until 1 January 2002, as part of the 2000–06 municipal reorganization in Quebec. Si ...

in Quebec City's old port.

Video documents

* Belco, J: ''Jean Gaudreau – Environnement de création'', 2010 * Lacerte, Louis: ''Jean Gaudreau – Moulin à images'', 2014 * Roberge, Josiane: ''Balise du Temps'', 2015 * Roberge, Josiane: ''Court métrage – Tambours flambeaux'', 201

Private and public collections

* ''Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent'' * ''

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'' * Québécor Média *

Loto-Québec Loto-Québec is a crown corporation in the Canadian province of Quebec. Established in 1969, it oversees lottery and gaming in the province alongside operating some of its own. The corporation operates lottery games such as draw games and scra ...

* Feel Europe Group *

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

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Alcan Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During ...

TD Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (), doing business as TD Bank Group (), is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was created on February 1, 1955, through ...

* Premier Tech * Laurier Museum

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaudreau, Jean 1964 births Living people Artists from Quebec City 20th-century Canadian engravers 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian photographers 20th-century Canadian sculptors Canadian male sculptors Université Laval alumni 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists Canadian abstract artists 21st-century Canadian engravers 21st-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian photographers 21st-century Canadian sculptors