Léon Bellefleur

Canadian , 1910-2007

Born: Canada: Quebec, Montreal 1910-02-08
Died: Canada: Quebec, Montreal 2007-02-22
Selected works
Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
Second Message
Gouache on paper
14 x 10 in
CAD 2700
sold artworks
Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
Mixed media on paper
7.25 x 8.25 in
Sold
Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
Entrelacs
Lithograph
17.5 x 11.75 in
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Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
Clown lunaire
Etching
11 3/4 x 8 1/2 in
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Léon Bellefleur
Les nuages de Debussy
Gouache on paper
8,25 x 7 in
Sold
Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
A sa fenetre
Mixed media on paper
11 x 8.25 in
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Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
La Martiniquaise
Etching
11 x 7.5 in
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Léon Bellefleur
1910-2007
Aux marges du silence
Serigraph
16 x 12 in (image) ; 23 x 19 in (paper)
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Biography
"Mystery works and is everywhere in life, around us and even in us, especially in art, I feel. A work without mystery is not a work of art; it is just a decorative object, made with a great deal of craftsmanship, but without soul or inner life, without mystery, in fact, and without wonder!" (Léon Bellefleur)

For 25 years Léon Bellefleur was an elementary school teacher, developing his artwork during the summers and studying during the evenings at the école des Beaux-Arts in Montreal for several years. In 1954 he was able to retire and pursue his art career full-time.

Along with Albert Dumouchel, Jacques de Tonnancour, Louis Archambault and others, Bellefleur joined the Prisme d’Yeux led by Alfred Pellan, signing their manifesto in 1948 and exhibiting with the group. These artists were responding to the approach of the Quebec Automatistes, and called for freedom of expression. Through this association, Bellefleur became interested in the Surrealist preoccupation with the subconscious as a source of inspiration. Towards the end of the decade, he became interested in the work of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and the Spanish artist, Juan Miro.

After retiring, Bellefleur travelled to Europe and set up a studio in Paris, producing prints and etchings. He also experimented with painting techniques, working with a spatula, which provided cleaner definitions to outlines than a brush and created various dimensional effects. Bellefleur spent most of the next 10 years working and travelling in Europe, before returning to Quebec permanently in 1966. His career was boosted by a retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in 1968. He continued to create lyrical and surrealist influenced painting, drawings, and prints through the 1980s.

He also led the Prisme d’Yeux (1948), artists who were open to traditional expression and inspiration, and who were responding to the more radical ideological approach of the Automatistes.

A first retrospective of Léon Bellefleur works was organized in 1968 by the NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, travelling to Ottawa, London (Ontario) and Montréal. Numerous exhibitions of his work have been held in Brazil, Canada, England and Denmark. He was, in 1977, the first winner of the Prix Borduas; he also received the annual prize of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste in 1985 and an honorary Ph.D. from Concordia University in 1987. Léon Bellefleur was inducted into the ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY in 1989.

Studied at
Montreal School of Fine Arts ,1929-1938
Collections
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Musée du Québec, Québec
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Carleton University Art Gallery
Collection d’oeuvres d’art, Université de Montréal
Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum
Galerie de l’UQAM
Galerie Leonard & Bina Ellen, Université Concordia
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Mendel Art Gallery
Musée d’art de Joliette
Musée de Lachine
Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke
Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent
Musée Louis-Hémon
Musée Pierre-Boucher
Museum London
Robert McLaughlin Gallery
Exhibitions
Awards

1951 – Prix Jessie Dow du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
1960 – Représente le Canada avec Borduas, Riopelle et quelques autres au Musée Guggenheim de New York
1977 – Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas du Gouvernement du Québec
1985 – Prix Louis-Philippe-Hébert de la Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal
1987 – Doctorat honorifique de l’Université Concordia
1989 – Membre de l’Académie royale des arts du Canada
Professional Activities
Publications