Description:

Jean Paul Lemieux (1904-1990), Canadian

LA JEUNE FILLE AU VOILE BLEU, CA. 1962

oil on canvas
signed lower left; titled to upper strainer bar verso
40.5 x 20.75 in — 102.9 x 52.7 cm

Estimate: $150,000—200,000

    Provenance:
  • Acquired directly from the artist by Private Collection, Montreal, QC
    Private Collection, Toronto, ON
  • Dimensions:
  • 40.5 x 20.75 in — 102.9 x 52.7 cm
  • Artist Name:
  • Jean Paul Lemieux (1904-1990)
  • Medium:
  • oil on canvas
  • Notes:
  • Jeune fille au voile bleu est un bel exemple la peinture de Lemieux qu’il considérait avant tout avant tout comme un espace plan où il parvient à maîtriser l’expression avec un minimum de formes et de couleurs. Au cours de sa période classique (1955-1970), le peintre réalisa de nombreux portraits fictifs qui adoptent les positions de face ou de profil dans des formats verticaux. Se constitua ainsi une galerie de personnages dont l’immobilité semble faire obstacle au temps qui fuit, un thème qui obsède Lemieux à l’approche de ses soixante ans.

    Le peintre a brossé ici le portrait d’une jeune fille au visage lumineux et serein dont les contours francs sont ciselés dans la masse sombre du fond. Il a procédé par contraste, faisant émerger la jolie tête de son vêtement austère, fermé au coup par un collet blanc. Le seul ornement de la composition consiste en la mantille brodée de motifs bleus. Ce voile est associé à la religion catholique qui imposait aux femmes, jeunes et âgées, le port d’un couvre-chef pendant la messe. Réalisé au début des années 1960 alors que le peuple québécois amorçait sa « Révolution tranquille » contre le puissant pouvoir religieux, Jeune fille au voile bleu témoigne d’une époque bientôt révolue. Comme tous les Canadiens français, Lemieux a été élevé dans la religion catholique. Avec ses couvents, sa basilique et ses nombreuses églises, la ville natale du peintre, qu’il chérissait tant, est un haut-lieu historique du rayonnement de la foi catholique en Amérique du Nord. Cela explique que le parcours de Lemieux est ponctué d’œuvres à caractère religieux depuis la période narrative (1940-1955) jusqu’à la période expressionniste (1970-1990).

    Remarquablement conservée dans le domaine privé depuis plus de soixante ans, Jeune fille au voile bleu n’a pas pris une ride. En l’absence de datation, il convient de situer sa réalisation vers 1962, en raison des qualités stylistiques qu’elle partage avec d’autres œuvres du célèbre peintre au début des années 1960 telles 1910 Remembered (1962, collection particulière) et les portraits de profil La contessa (1961, collection particulière) et Monseigneur (1962, collection particulière).

    Cette œuvre sera incluse dans le prochain catalogue raisonné de l’artiste par Grandbois.

    Jeune fille au voile bleu is a fine example of Jean Paul Lemieux's painting, which he regarded above all as a flat surface on which he managed to master expression with minimal shapes and colours. During his classical period (1955-1970), the painter produced a large number of portraits of fictitious sitters in both frontal and profile view and in vertical format. The result is an assortment of figures whose immobility transcends the passage of time, a theme that preoccupied Lemieux as he approached sixty.

    Here, the artist has painted a portrait of a young girl with a luminous, serene face, whose clear contours have been chiseled into the dark mass of the background. He used contrast to reveal her pretty head emerging from her austere garment, fastened at the neck by a white collar. The only ornament in the composition is a mantilla embroidered with blue motifs. This veil is associated with Roman Catholicism, which required women, young and old, to wear a head covering during mass. Produced in the early 1960s as the people of Quebec began their "Quiet Revolution" against powerful religious authorities, Jeune fille au voile bleu bears witness to a bygone era. Like all French-Canadians, Lemieux was raised Catholic. With Quebec City’s convents, basilica and numerous churches, the painter's cherished birthplace is a historic centre for the influence of the Catholic faith in North America. This explains why Lemieux's career is punctuated by works of a religious nature, from the narrative period (1940-1955) to the expressionist period (1970-1990).

    Remarkably preserved in private ownership for over 60 years, Jeune fille au voile bleu has not aged a day. In the absence of a date, we can place its creation around 1962, given the stylistic qualities it shares with other works by Lemieux in the early 1960s, such as 1910 Remembered (1962, Private Collection) and the profile portraits La contessa (1961, Private Collection) and Monseigneur (1962, Private Collection).

    This work will be included in Grandbois’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work.

    Michèle Grandbois, Ph.D., is an independent researcher, and is currently compiling a catalogue raisonné of the works of Jean Paul Lemieux.

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May 29, 2024 6:00 PM EDT
Toronto, ON, CA

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
CA$0 CA$249 CA$10
CA$250 CA$499 CA$25
CA$500 CA$999 CA$50
CA$1,000 CA$1,999 CA$100
CA$2,000 CA$4,999 CA$250
CA$5,000 CA$9,999 CA$500
CA$10,000 CA$19,999 CA$1,000
CA$20,000 CA$49,999 CA$2,000
CA$50,000 CA$99,999 CA$5,000
CA$100,000 CA$299,999 CA$10,000
CA$300,000 CA$999,999 CA$25,000
CA$1,000,000 CA$1,999,999 CA$50,000
CA$2,000,000 CA$2,999,999 CA$100,000
CA$3,000,000 CA$4,999,999 CA$200,000
CA$5,000,000 + CA$300,000