Sold for: $16,380

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Montreal

Jean Paul Lemieux’s landscapes are layered with a richness and complexity that belies their apparent simplicity. While his brushwork appears to be uncomplicated, we in fact find these spare scenes are achieved through his expert mastery of colour, tone and hue. Le nuage (The Cloud) is an example of this, being composed entirely of black, white and a very few additional colours. The black, used to depict the ground, has been brushed on lightly, allowing the weave of the canvas to show though. White has been dotted onto the distant horizon, depicting either snow or rain, we cannot be sure which. Black dominates the mixture Lemieux has used to depict the near ground, through which a road, or perhaps a riverbed, runs. And finally, black and white are used in varying combinations with slight additions of colour to depict the clouds, which make up three-quarters of the canvas. Lemieux often professed that his first love in all of his art was the act of painting itself. In Le nuage we see his masterful skill as a painter on display in a scene of absolute minimalism.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars