Claude Tousignant
(Canadian, b. 1932)
Monochrome
c. 1988–1995
Acrylic on aluminum panel
Panel: 8 × 8 in. (20.3 × 20.3 cm)
Framed: 17 × 17 × 2 in. (43.2 × 43.2 × 5.1 cm)
Executed circa 1988 to 1995, this monochrome work by Claude Tousignant is an exquisite example of the artist's relentless exploration of pure color, hard-edge abstraction, and spatial geometry. Featuring a pristine 8 by 8 inch square aluminum panel painted in a deep, saturated cobalt blue, the artwork exemplifies Tousignant's shift to industrial metal panels in the late 1980s. Aluminum provided an unyielding, grainless surface that allowed acrylic paint to exist purely as uninterrupted, saturated color field.
Presented in a deep custom shadowbox frame executed later by a Vancouver framer, the floating 8 by 8 inch panel creates an architectural dialogue between the deep blue square and the surrounding white void. The presentation emphasizes Tousignant's foundational philosophy: that a painting should exist as an autonomous physical object stripped of representational illusion or sentiment.
As a leading figure of the second wave of Les Plasticiens in Montreal alongside Guido Molinari, Claude Tousignant played a pivotal role in redefining North American non-objective art. Over a career spanning more than six decades, his rigorous investigations into chromatic perception, scale, and Op art dynamism have earned him a place among Canada's most celebrated modern masters.
Major Accolades & Recognition:
Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada (O.C.)
Winner of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2010)
Recipient of the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas (1989)
Major retrospectives at the National Gallery of Canada (1973) and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (1980, 2009)
Selected Permanent Collections:
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal / MACM (Montreal, QC)
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal / MMFA (Montreal, QC)
Art Gallery of Ontario / AGO (Toronto, ON)
Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec / MNBAQ (Quebec City, QC)
Claude Tousignant
(Canadian, b. 1932)
Monochrome
c. 1988–1995
Acrylic on aluminum panel
Panel: 8 × 8 in. (20.3 × 20.3 cm)
Framed: 17 × 17 × 2 in. (43.2 × 43.2 × 5.1 cm)
Executed circa 1988 to 1995, this monochrome work by Claude Tousignant is an exquisite example of the artist's relentless exploration of pure color, hard-edge abstraction, and spatial geometry. Featuring a pristine 8 by 8 inch square aluminum panel painted in a deep, saturated cobalt blue, the artwork exemplifies Tousignant's shift to industrial metal panels in the late 1980s. Aluminum provided an unyielding, grainless surface that allowed acrylic paint to exist purely as uninterrupted, saturated color field.
Presented in a deep custom shadowbox frame executed later by a Vancouver framer, the floating 8 by 8 inch panel creates an architectural dialogue between the deep blue square and the surrounding white void. The presentation emphasizes Tousignant's foundational philosophy: that a painting should exist as an autonomous physical object stripped of representational illusion or sentiment.
As a leading figure of the second wave of Les Plasticiens in Montreal alongside Guido Molinari, Claude Tousignant played a pivotal role in redefining North American non-objective art. Over a career spanning more than six decades, his rigorous investigations into chromatic perception, scale, and Op art dynamism have earned him a place among Canada's most celebrated modern masters.
Major Accolades & Recognition:
Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada (O.C.)
Winner of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2010)
Recipient of the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas (1989)
Major retrospectives at the National Gallery of Canada (1973) and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (1980, 2009)
Selected Permanent Collections:
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal / MACM (Montreal, QC)
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal / MMFA (Montreal, QC)
Art Gallery of Ontario / AGO (Toronto, ON)
Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec / MNBAQ (Quebec City, QC)
