Lot 103
LÉON BELLEFLEUR, R.C.A.
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario
Literature:
Guy Robert, Bellefleur, The Fervour of the Quest, Iconia, Montreal, 1988, page 132.
Note:
Certain titles Léon Bellefleur gives to his paintings could have multiple, even contrary meanings. For example, Guy Robert cites Flammes of 1984, “standing at the ambiguous border between Joan of Arc’s stake and a merry summer campfire.”
It is difficult to picture Bellefleur the ‘hedonist,’ ‘epicurean,’ ‘incorruptible child’ enraged for a moment, much less an entire day, as suggested by the title of this lot. However, it is curious to consider what might have inspired it. While the composition suggests a certain tension in the central mass and tangle of colour and shape, the overall mood is bouyed by the sudsy, bespeckled border that surrounds it, as though the “colère” is already dissipating.