Jacques de Tonnancour

Jacques Godefroy de Tonnancour, OC OQ (3 January 1917 – 13 January 2005) was a Canadian artist and art educator from Montreal, Quebec.

Life and work

Jacques Godefroy de Tonnancour was born on 3 January 1917 in Montreal, Quebec.[1] He studied at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in 1937 but after three years left as he found the teaching too conservative.[1] He admired the work of Goodridge Roberts[2] and Paul Emile Borduas.[3] He joined the Contemporary Art Society of Montreal in 1942.[4]

Though he admired Borduas as a painter, he was not in agreement with the political direction of the Automatistes. In 1948, he helped compose the manifesto which Alfred Pellan used to establish the Prisme d'yeux group. "We seek a painting freed from all contingencies of time and place, of restrictive ideology, conceived without any literary, political, philosophical or other meddling which could dilute its expression or compromise its purity" stated a translation of Prisme d'yeux that was published in Canadian Art.[5] This group opposed those who would sign the Refus Global later that year, feeling that painting should not be a political act.

de Tonnancour had a long and active career as an artist, moving between representational and abstract approaches; producing paintings, sculptures, collages and photographs at various points in his career. His work is included many public collections including the National Gallery of Canada,;[1] Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery,[6] Concordia University;[6] Carleton University Art Gallery;[6] Art Gallery of Nova Scotia;[6] Art Gallery of Hamilton;[6] Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum;[6] Museum London;[7] Art Gallery of Greater Victoria;[6] and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery;[6] among others.

In 1958, works by de Tonnancour along with those of James Wilson Morrice, Anne Kahane and Jack Nichols represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.[8] He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1977.[9]

de Tonnancour taught at the Université du Québec à Montréal, the University of British Columbia and Mount Allison University. Among his students were Claude Tousignant[5] and Graham Coughtry.[5]

de Tonnancour retired from painting in 1982 to concentrate on entomology. In 2002, Les Éditions Hurtubise published Les Insectes. Monstres ou splendeurs cachées written and illustrated by de Tonnacour.[10] The volume won the Prix Marcel-Couture in 2002.[11] An English edition was published in 2002.[12]

de Tonnancour died on 13 January 2005, aged 88, in Montreal, Quebec.[1]

Honors

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Jacques de Tonnancour". National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Reid, Dennis (1973). A Concise History of Canadian Painting. Toronto: Oxford University Press. p. 203. ISBN 0195402065. During the early forties the chaste delicacy of [Goodridge Roberts'] painting, as seen most notably in figure pictures like Nude (NGC) of 1943, inspired the respect and emulation of a number of young Montrealers, principally Jacques de Tonnancour.
  3. ↑ Reid, Dennis (1973). A Concise History of Canadian Painting. p. 215.
  4. ↑ Hill, Charles C. "Interview with Jacques de Tonnancour (Artist)". National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Reid, Dennis (1973). A Concise History of Canadian Painting. p. 227.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Artefacts Canada". Government of Canada. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "Welcome to our online collection". Museum London. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  8. ↑ "Past Canadian Exhibitions". National Gallery of Canada at the Venice Biennale. National Gallery of Canada. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  10. ↑ de Tonnancour, Jacques (2002). Les Insectes. Monstres ou splendeurs cachées (in French). Montreal: Les Éditions Hurtubise. ISBN 978-2-89428-512-1. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  11. ↑ McLauchlin, Matt. "Jacques De Tonnancour". MONTREAL BY METRO. Matt McLauchlin. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  12. ↑ de Tonnancour, Jacques (2002). Insects Revealed: Monsters or Marvels?. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801440238.
  13. ↑ "Jacques G. de Tonnancour, O.C., O.Q.". Government of Canada. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Landsley, P. (June 1986). "Doctorat honorifique – Éloge de Jacques de Tonnancour". Concordia University. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
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