Sold for: $85,250

PROVENANCE
Galerie Clarence Gagnon, Montreal
Private Collection, Montreal
Galerie Jean-Pierre Valentin, Montreal
Private Collection, Quebec

LITERATURE
Guy Robert, Lemieux, 1975, page 194

Few Canadian artists have treated the subject of the night sky as aptly and extensively as Jean Paul Lemieux. In a 1972 interview, he stated, “I know the still of the night well, because I often wake up at night and listen to it. Silence for me is looking at a star-filled sky and hearing only the faint rustling of a few leaves.” Here, Lemieux juxtaposed the infinite firmament with a figure at the forefront. We find the titular femme au collier—“lady with a necklace”—standing at the right corner of the painting. Anchored to the border of the canvas, her face is noticeably close to the viewer—so much so that it seems as if we are in direct interlocution with this elegant woman. Dressed in red, with matching necklace and lipstick, she gazes directly ahead, and her short black bob almost melts into the starry dark sky. A figure appears behind her walking down the street, but the face is undefined. Enigmatic and engaging, Femme au collier et personnage dans la nuit is a great example of Lemieux’s distinct and poetic oeuvre.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars