Blueberry Picking , 1947

An Ontario Estate

Frances K. Smith, “André Biéler: An Artist’s Life and Times”, Toronto 1980, pages 101-102, reproduced page 102

After studying art in New York, Switzerland and Paris, André Biéler returned to Canada and first settled in Ste-Famille on Île d’Orléans in the Gaspé area of Quebec. Here, his art was greatly inspired by rural Quebec life. Seeking a more active art community, in 1930 Biéler moved to 1100 Beaver Hall Hill in Montreal - the centre of the Beaver Hall Group. As a result, Biéler’s work grew increasingly modernist in stylistic approach. As his artistic career progressed, Biéler moved to Kingston, Ontario in 1936, where he spent twenty-seven years as Resident Artist and Professor at Queen’s University, helping to establish the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery. In his studio in Kingston in the 1940s, Biéler experimented with a mixed technique in his art, a style for which he became an acknowledged authority within Canada. Frances K. Smith describes the artist’s method: “The support for the painting is covered with a white gesso ground; then a thin watercolour wash or veil is applied over the ground to give a unifying undertone to the finished work. The three-dimensional quality of a painting achieved by this system of building up with egg tempera and oil glazes and varnishes would have been impossible in a direct painting method, he felt. This three-dimensional quality of the mixed technique is clearly observed in ‘Blueberry Picking’ from 1947.” Biéler combined his love of shape and form with that of the human subject in “Blueberry Picking”. In this composition, the figures are collectively working in harmony with the landscape. The natural rhythm of the figures is reflected in the curve of their shoulders and backs, rendered in a soft colour palette. Biéler had considerable output as an artist, but also holds an honoured place in the cultural life of Canada as a respected teacher of art who influenced many generations of artists.