Femme en noir, 1980

Kaspar Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Montreal Canadian Fine Arts, Toronto The Collection of Joe and Anita Robertson, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Guy Robert, “Lemieux,” Toronto, 1978, page 240 Michèle Grandbois, “Jean Paul Lemieux: Life & Work” [online publication], Art Canada Institute, Toronto, 2016, pages 40, 63

Jean Paul Lemieux is well–known for the serenity and nostalgia of his so–called “classic period” between 1956 and 1970. During these years, Lemieux took inspiration from a number of themes, of which time and space were the most significant. Empty spaces inhabited by simplified figures were key features of this period and would develop further as the artist shifted away from the narrative toward the flat space of the picture plane. Lemieux wrote, “In my landscapes and my characters I try to express the solitude we all have to live with, and in each painting, the inner world of my memories. My external surroundings only interest me because they allow me to paint my inner world.” Most frequently staged in winter, Lemieux’s landscape paintings suspend time and space, and capture the artist’s inner world of solitude and unique painterly vision of Quebec. Between 1970 and 1990, Lemieux’s painting underwent a transformation. The serenity of Lemieux’s landscapes were replaced by compositions in which dark masses cover the majority of the picture plane and is referred to as the artist’s “Expressionist period.” During these years, Lemieux explored themes of anxiety, war and death which illustrate his political concerns over the future of mankind. Lemieux vented: “The machine age with its dreadful uniformity is spreading and crushing all that gave Quebec its unique character among the cities of America.” Though also influenced by European and American modernists, Lemieux found kinship with the Nordic Expressionist painter Edvard Munch. A pioneer of the Expressionist movement, Munch too expressed his anxiety at the trajectory and evolution of the modern world, often questioning his own place within it. “Femme en noir” belongs to the Nordic Expressionist tradition, whose sensibility Lemieux shared. Wrapped in a heavy raccoon coat and fur toque, Lemieux’s “Femme en noir” is isolated in personal solitude as she stands against a vast winter landscape, the biting cold reddening her cheeks. Unlike the passive figures of the artist’s earlier paintings, this figure intentionally looks past the viewer with a subtle expression of anxiety and fear, alerting us to an unseen presence which lurks in the distance. Lemieux's depiction of the isolated figure in a desolate landscape conveys the artist’s distress over the future of mankind and mankind’s place in the universe. “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.” In this quietly powerful painting, Lemieux’s “Femme en noir” pushes against the cold of a harsh winter toward the fear of an uncertain future. Jean Paul Lemieux died in Quebec City in 1990, two years before the opening of a retrospective of his work at the Musée national des beaux–arts du Québec. A Companion of the Order of Canada, Lemieux is regarded as one of the most important Quebec artists of the 20th century. This artwork has been consigned from the Collection of Joe and Anita Robertson. The artwork from the collection (Lots 43-47 in this auction) is being offered in memory of Joe, Anita and Laura Robertson. Each work of art was carefully chosen by the Robertson family and hung in their welcoming home. Joe and Anita Robertson were prominent Niagara Peninsula businesspeople, both born to large, closely knit families. They met as teenagers while working at a McDonald’s in Bells Corners, Nepean and married in 1986, raising three children, Taylor, Clark and Laura. Joe and Anita were lifelong best friends and business partners. They excelled in their careers, purchasing a small dental supply company in St. Catharines, Ontario to grow it under the name of Arcona Health Incorporated. They would sell the company with Joe becoming the CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of the parent company’s Canadian subsidiary, Henry Schein Arcona Inc. Laura Robertson, the family’s youngest child, grew up in St. Catharines before moving to Vancouver to earn her Bachelor’s of Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia in 2017. Laura had begun working in Brock University’s Kinesiology Department as a Facilities Coordinator at the time of her passing. She was an active volunteer at Red Roof Retreat and was proud to serve Niagara-on-the-Lake as a volunteer firefighter. Laura had a lifelong passion for the arts and was a skilled illustrator and oil painter. Joe and Anita Robertson were philanthropically active in their Niagara-on-the-Lake and St. Catharines communities, making major financial contributions to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre to build a multipurpose theatre, the Niagara Health Foundation to support the construction of the hospital and the Niagara-on-the-Lake nursery, as well as many other causes. Besides being active volunteers, they also individually played pivotal roles supporting the St. Catharines & District United Way, the Council of Chairs of Ontario Universities, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, Music Cares, Bravo Niagara and the Brock Performing Arts Centre. Joe also served on the board of Brock University for over a decade, and between 2012 and 2014 was Chair of their Board of Governors. As such strong supporters and active participants of arts and culture, it is not surprising that the artwork they collected reflected their passion for art. Cowley Abbott is proud to donate a portion of our commission from the sale of the family’s artwork to the United Way Niagara in memory of Joe, Anita and Laura Robertson and on behalf of their surviving children, Clark and Taylor. Additional artwork from The Collection of Joe and Anita Robertson will be featured in a Cowley Abbott online auction, which will be open for bidding from November 28th to December 12th. We extend our thanks to Brett Sherlock Advisory for their active and important role in advising the Robertson family.