| Claude Tousignant | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 23, 1932 Montreal, Quebec |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Field | Painting, Sculpture |
| Training | School of Art and Design at the MBAM |
| Movement | Plasticiens, Tachism |
| Works | "Chromatic accelerator" series |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of Canada) |
Claude Tousignant, OC is a Canadian artist born in Montreal, Quebec on December 23, 1932.
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Claude Tousignant is a Canadian abstract painter and sculptor born in Montreal, Quebec. He started his stylistic explorations in France during the early 1950s, but returned home wanting more. Tousignant was then influenced by the Pop Art school, and adhered to a modern art movement in Montreal called "les Plasticiens". This group of four painters (Jean-Paul Jérôme, Louis Belzile, Rodolphe de Repentigny and Fernand Toupin) wanted abstract painting to go mainstream, and Claude Tousignant dove right in.
Geometric shapes and solid colors make up most of Tousignant's work (see samples in the gallery below), but he always refused to incorporate human or identifiable shapes in his drawings. He pushed the boundaries to simplify the expression itself in the act of painting, incorporating huge circles, square angles, vivid colors in his pieces. During the 1960s, his most popular series came alive with dozens of variations on colorful themes: "Chromatic transformers", "Chromatic accelerators" and "Gongs". But it is during the following decade that he audaciously came full circle on his vision, presenting monotone pieces, the simplest of art forms.
A retrospective of his work is available online at the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal.