Route, 1971

Private Collection, Toronto

Well-known as a founding member of Montreal’s Plasticien group, Jean-Paul Jérôme began working in an increasingly lyrical mode of abstraction in the late 1950s. Jérôme developed an idiosyncratic approach, building on the early influence of European cubism and constructivism. In the early 1970s, Jérôme created several works with a restricted palette of toned-down, earthy hues. His painting “Route” resembles gestural, painterly brushstrokes but is carefully rendered in clean, graphic forms. Black thread-like lines meander through the composition, playing off the dominant, branch-like structures. Moving away from an all-over, pure abstraction, Jérôme re-establishes a figure/ground pictorial space set in flat background areas of red oxide and white. “Route” brims with frenetic energy and movement. A restless experimenter, Jérôme’s prolific output explored a wide range of stylistic possibilities.