Guido Molinari
Guido Molinari
1933 - 2004
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Guido Molinari was born in 1933 in Montreal into an artistic family - his father was a musician and his mother the daughter of a craftsman. In 1951, Guido Molinari began studying at the School of Art and Design at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where he distinguished himself with his protests against the accepted concepts of painting by painting blindfolded.

Although working in abstraction and aware of the Automatist and the Plasticien painters in Montreal, Molinari did not directly align himself with these groups. Interested in the explorations of European Surrealists in automatic writing, his work in the early 1950s reflected his own experiments with this practice. However, Molinari declared his freedom by describing himself as the theorist of "Molinarism." He was a charismatic intellectual and a central figure in the art scene in Montreal and its new directions into abstraction. His first solo show was at l'Échourie, where he was director of exhibitions. His intent was to make l'Échourie a meeting place for artists of the post-Automatist generation. In 1955 he founded Galerie l'Actuelle, the first gallery in Montreal to exclusively show abstract art. In 1956 the Non-Figurative Artists Association of Montreal was created at Galerie l'Actuelle, and Molinari, a founding member, participated in their exhibitions. During the 1950s, as well as works based on automatic writing, Molinari produced gestural paintings, and a powerful group of black and white works. In 1959 he was included in the Third Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada.

In the 1960s, he created geometric abstract works and produced his Stripe Paintings series. During this decade he exhibited in galleries and museums in New York - such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (The Responsive Eye in 1965), and in 1963 MOMA acquired one of his paintings. He began to exhibit internationally, and continued to do so in subsequent decades.

Molinari's interest in the dynamic energy of colour continued in his Quantifier series - large-scale monochromes, in radiant hues such of red or cobalt blue, with subtle and irregular divisions created by subtle tonal differences - begun in 1975, this series endured over 20 years.

Molinari taught for 27 years at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), retiring in 1997. His theoretical writing influenced generations of younger Canadian artists. He won many awards, such as the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967 and the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas in 1980. He represented Canada in the 1968 Venice Biennale with works from his Bi-serial series, winning the David E. Bright Foundation prize. Retrospectives of his work took place in 1976 at the National Gallery of Canada, and in 1995 at the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal. He died in Montreal in 2004.
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Sans titre by Guido Molinari sold for $354,000
Guido Molinari
Sans titre
84 x 96 in, 213.4 x 243.8 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000 CDN
Sold for: $354,000 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 1st Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Bi-sériel violet-ocre by Guido Molinari sold for $337,250
Guido Molinari
Bi-sériel violet-ocre
111 x 90 in, 281.9 x 228.6 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CDN
Sold for: $337,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, December 01, 2021
Sérielle ocre-brun by Guido Molinari sold for $313,250
Guido Molinari
Sérielle ocre-brun
84 x 67 in, 213.4 x 170.2 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CDN
Sold for: $313,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Système sériel vert-rouge by Guido Molinari sold for $313,250
Guido Molinari
Système sériel vert-rouge
90 x 72 in, 228.6 x 182.9 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CDN
Sold for: $313,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, May 25, 2023
Mutation bi-sérielle by Guido Molinari sold for $306,800
Guido Molinari
Mutation bi-sérielle
80 x 60 in, 203.2 x 152.4 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000 CDN
Sold for: $306,800 CDN (premium included)
Fall 2016 - 1st Session on Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Sériel vert-violet by Guido Molinari sold for $277,250
Guido Molinari
Sériel vert-violet
92 x 144 in, 233.7 x 365.8 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CDN
Sold for: $277,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, December 02, 2020
Espace bleu-ocre by Guido Molinari sold for $253,250
Guido Molinari
Espace bleu-ocre
81 x 108 in, 205.7 x 274.3 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CDN
Sold for: $253,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, November 23, 2023
Mutation rythmique rouge-orange by Guido Molinari sold for $247,800
Guido Molinari
Mutation rythmique rouge-orange
90 1/8 x 78 1/8 in, 228.9 x 198.4 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000 CDN
Sold for: $247,800 CDN (premium included)
Fall 2015 - 1st Session on Thursday, November 26, 2015
Sériel bleu-ocre by Guido Molinari sold for $229,250
Guido Molinari
Sériel bleu-ocre
78 x 63 in, 198.1 x 160 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CDN
Sold for: $229,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, November 23, 2023
Quantificateur rouge by Guido Molinari sold for $200,600
Guido Molinari
Quantificateur rouge
84 x 95 7/8 in, 213.4 x 243.5 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $80,000 - $100,000 CDN
Sold for: $200,600 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 1st Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016