Le double anneau dans l'oeil, 1964

Galerie du Siècle, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal

Montreal-based artist Lise Gervais was inspired by Paul-Émile Borduas and Les Automatistes, although she was not an official member of the group. She played a significant role in Quebec's abstract painting movement in the 1960s, focusing on bold pigments and high contrast to bring energy to her art. Gervais travelled to Spain in 1958, where she was particularly inspired by the work of Francisco Goya. Back in Montreal in 1961, she had her first solo show at the Galerie Denyse Delrue. She would go on to exhibit with Gallery Moos in 1962. Gervais then returned to teaching for sixteen years at the École des beaux-arts, Concordia University and L’Université du Québec in Montreal. The tactile and colourful surface of "Le double anneau dans l’œil" vividly captures the vibrant energy with which she infused her artwork. Gervais' personal interest in texture and materiality results in expressive and instinctive brushwork, with a high-contrast palette of black, white, yellow, and red. These colours, applied with precision, carry a dynamic and instinctive touch, creating a captivating composition that showcases Gervais's artistic expertise. Choosing pure, brilliant pigments, she allowed minimal blending to occur in her work. Thus her colours are incredibly pure and rich. Building on one another, each stroke of paint creates depth, movement and contrast of colour and complexity within the grid-like composition. In "Le double anneau dans l’œil", the viewer can see the foundations of the artist’s technique, steeped in the traditions of the Automatistes and focusing on the limitations of the medium she developed throughout the 1960s.