Denis Juneau
Denis Juneau
1925 - 2014
AANFM ARCA
Denis Juneau was a member of the second generation of the Plasticiens and a prominent figure working in geometric abstraction in Quebec. He was born in Montreal (Verdun) in 1925. He studied at the Monument-National from 1942 to 1943 and then at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal from 1943 to 1950 under Sylvia Daoust, Armand Filion, Alfred Laliberté and Alfred Pellan. He worked as an apprentice for goldsmith George Delerue from 1951 to 1952, and then from 1952 to 1953 as a draftsman for Gilles Beaugrand, another goldsmith.

In 1954, Juneau visited Italy’s Carrara region to select the marble for a commissioned sculpture. During his stay, he visited the Milan Triennial of decorative and industrial arts and architecture. Inspired by the dynamism of modern Italian design, he enrolled at the Centro Studi Arte de Industria in Novara. From 1954 to 1956, he studied under the Centro’s founder, Nino Di Salvatore.

Juneau returned to Montreal in the fall of 1956, bringing back with him ideas of modern design and an ability to achieve harmonious compositions through an economy of means. Artists Jean Goguen, Guido Molinari and Claude Tousignant were especially receptive to these ideas, and together with Juneau formed the second generation of the Plasticien movement. Using an increasingly strict geometric vocabulary in which the circle dominated, Juneau studied optical effects and created highly dynamic works. Drawing from Josef Albers’s book Interaction of Color (1963), he reduced his palette to two or three contrasting colors applied in flat planes.

Juneau’s works were shown in important international exhibitions such as Mostra del Arte Industria at the Galleria dell’Instituto di Cultura Italiana in Vienna (1955), Geometric Abstraction in Canada at Camino Gallery in New York (1962) and Modern Canadian Painting at the Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto, Italy (1962). Important retrospectives were held in major museums such as Denis Juneau: New Perspectives at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa (1984) and Denis Juneau, Ponctuations at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (2001 - 2002). He was awarded the Gershon Iskowitz Prize in 1986 and the Paul-Émile Borduas Prize in 2008. He was also a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
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Entre rouge et bleu by Denis Juneau sold for $20,000
Denis Juneau
Entre rouge et bleu
79 1/2 x 79 1/2 in, 201.9 x 201.9 cm
liquitex on canvas
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CDN
Sold for: $20,000 CDN (premium included)
Op Art on Thursday, May 14, 2020
Rouge-noir-vert by Denis Juneau sold for $10,625
Denis Juneau
Rouge-noir-vert
30 1/2 x 30 1/2 in, 77.5 x 77.5 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000 CDN
Sold for: $10,625 CDN (premium included)
Op Art on Thursday, May 14, 2020
Rougi by Denis Juneau sold for $10,625
Denis Juneau
Rougi
35 3/4 x 35 3/4 in, 90.8 x 90.8 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000 CDN
Sold for: $10,625 CDN (premium included)
Op Art on Thursday, May 14, 2020
Sans titre - Maquette de
Denis Juneau
Sans titre - Maquette de "Rouge et bleu"
20 x 26 in, 50.8 x 66 cm
gouache on paper
Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000 CDN
Sold for: $5,000 CDN (premium included)
Op Art on Thursday, May 14, 2020
Un rond déplacé by Denis Juneau sold for $3,750
Denis Juneau
Un rond déplacé
20 1/4 x 20 1/4 in, 51.4 x 51.4 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000 CDN
Sold for: $3,750 CDN (premium included)
Abstraction on Thursday, March 31, 2022
Sans titre by Denis Juneau sold for $3,438
Denis Juneau
Sans titre
17 7/8 x 12 in, 45.4 x 30.5 cm
circa 1965
gouache on paper
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000 CDN
Sold for: $3,438 CDN (premium included)
Op Art on Thursday, May 14, 2020
Flèches vertes by Denis Juneau sold for $3,125
Denis Juneau
Flèches vertes
20 x 20 in, 50.8 x 50.8 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000 CDN
Sold for: $3,125 CDN (premium included)
March 2016 - 4th session on Thursday, March 31, 2016
Espace jaune by Denis Juneau sold for $1,500
Denis Juneau
Espace jaune
26 1/4 x 20 in, 66.7 x 50.8 cm
serigraph on paper
Estimate: $600 - $800 CDN
Sold for: $1,500 CDN (premium included)
Op Art on Thursday, May 14, 2020
Nu by Denis Juneau sold for $1,250
Denis Juneau
Nu
25 x 19 in, 63.5 x 48.3 cm
charcoal on paper
Estimate: $2,500 - $3,500 CDN
Sold for: $1,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War Quebec on Saturday, May 27, 2023
Sans titre by Denis Juneau sold for $1,250
Denis Juneau
Sans titre
13 x 9 7/8 in, 33 x 25.1 cm
mixed media on paper
Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500 CDN
Sold for: $1,250 CDN (premium included)
Musée d'art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul | Fundraising Auction on Wednesday, October 21, 2020