Denis Juneau

Biography

Juneau was born in [Verdun, Qc,Canada] in 1925. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, under the guidance of Alfred Pellan, amongst others, and became a notorious figure in the new wave of artists that Quebec was to produce in the era of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Third child of 5, Juneau suffered from total deafness as a result of meningitis contracted at the age of 18 months. Despite this handicap, and having a paralysed right leg from poliomyelitis contracted at age 3, he went on to study in Italy, at the Sculoa di Disegno di Novara from 1954 to 1956. From Italy, he also retained a body language that was to characterize him for the rest of his long life.

After his return to Montreal in 1956, he soon takes part in a collective exhibition at the Denyse Delrue gallery, with other young painters of his generation. Two years later he has his first of many personal exhibitions in the same gallery.

Juneau became recognized as one of the plasticien (or hard edge) painters such as Guido Molinari, Fernand Toupin, Claude Tousignant and Fernand Leduc. All through the 1960s, 1970s and part of the 1980s, he remained faithful to that form of painting until a year stay in Paris (1982), when he slowly turned to a more fluid and free style of expression. A prolific artist, he also produced many sculptures, designed symbols and logos, such as the one for the Université de Montréal. His work has been shown in museums the world over. In 1986, he was the first artist to be awarded the Gershon Iskowitz prize. In 1987 The National Gallery of Ottawa presented a solo exhibition of his work. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec held an important retrospective of his paintings and sculptures in 2001.

Juneau received the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas, awarded by the government of Quebec in 2008. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Juneau died of pneumonia on October 6, 2014 at the Hôpital Notre-Dame in Montreal.