JEAN McEWEN: Catalogue Available
McEwen's paintings are uniquely his and they stand as a body of work that is coherent,
articulate, and resonant - good indicators that they will have an enduring value and
presence for many years to come. McEwen's works are created by a mind that is akin to that of the great painteer Mark Rothko. At the same time, Jean has cultivated a different set of visual ideas, and his ideas would have continued his remarkable stream of works that are compelling and memorable, to judge from his work up to his untimely death in 1999, at the age of seventy-six and at the peak of his career.
David P. Silcox,
JEAN McEWEN
Exhibition Catalogue
Published by Mira Godard Gallery
On Saturday, November 14th, Mira Godard Gallery is pleased to open an exhibition of paintings by JEAN McEWEN.
JEAN McEWEN, one of Canada's most distinguished and innovative artists, was born in Montreal in l923. He studied pharmacy at the Université de Montréal, graduating in l948. McEwen began painting in l946 and after meeting some of the Automatistes in Montreal, he decided to become a painter. His first major exhibition was held at the Galerie Agnés Lefort (now Mira Godard Gallery) in l951.
Encouraged by Paul-Émile Borduas, McEwen travelled to Paris, where he met Jean-Paul Riopelle and Sam Francis. In l960 he became the president of the Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montreal (created in l956). In l963 he took part in the São Paulo Art Biennial.
Jean McEwen received a number of prizes and awards over the course of his career. In l961 he won first prize in the Concour artistique de Quebec. In l977 he received the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts, given for artistic achievement. In l998 he was awarded the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas, the highest distinction conferred by the Quebec government in the realm of the visual arts.
Jean McEwen exhibited regularly in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and New York. The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal gave him his first restrospective, Jean McEwen: l953-1973 (in 1973). The Montreal Museum of Fine Art mounted a second retrospective, Jean McEwen: Colour in Depth, in 1987 and in 2019 exhibited Untamed Colour: Celebrating Jean McEwen.
McEwen's paintings can be found in numerous national and international public, corporate and private collections including: Albright-Knox, Buffalo, N.Y.; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec; Museum of Modern Art,New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Vancouver Art Gallery and Walker Art Centre, Indianapolis.
Jean McEwen died in Montreal on January 9, l999.
