Sans titre (Soldat), 1982

Private Collection, Montreal

Marie Carani, “Jean Paul Lemieux”, Musée du Québec, Québec, 1993, reproduced, plate 103 Michèle Grandbois, “Jean Paul Lemieux: Life & Work” [online publication], Art Canada Institute, Toronto, 2016, page 63, reproduced page 64

Jean Paul Lemieux’s painting style shifted dramatically over the 1940s and 50s, from a realistic and decorative approach to one that was simplified and planar. By the 1960s he gradually abandoned any narrative in his work; paintings were predominantly lonely figures in barren landscapes. These landscapes were made up of little more than a horizon line to suggest a division between earth and sky although each of a different colour. While Lemieux did not consider himself a landscape painter, his figures were often portrayed in a landscape setting. These distinct and recognizable images contributed to the artist’s renown. “Sans titre (Soldat)” was painted during Lemieux’s late Expressionist period (1970-1990). By this time, his tranquil, contemplative landscapes have evolved into darker, high-contrast scenes with more emotional characters. This period was inspired by some recurring universal themes: the destructive power of war, the threatening modern city, and humanity’s obsession with death. In “Sans titre (Soldat)”, the dark mass that forms a soldier’s silhouette in the foreground is starkly contrasted with the large glowing sun that he faces. While the subject matter is simple, a soldier staring out at the sun evokes an endless stream of possible contemplations. He may be cursing it for bringing on another day filled with loss, thinking about the futility of war, or basking in its warm glow and reminiscing about a simpler time in his life. Lemieux speaks of this primordial connection between man and landscape in his paintings. “The essential element in my last paintings is the person,” Lemieux explains. “The landscape is his setting. If you could have a world without human beings, the landscape would be the same. But the presence of man changes everything. It is the place of the human within the universe that matters. The person finds his footing, finds himself in the landscape.”