Height 78.7 cm x Width 179.8 cm
A minimalist landscape painting of a bare, snowy landscape. In the foreground receding into the far middle ground is a rounded snowy hill with cracks in the snow running from its base to its peak, on the right side at centre is a narrow wedge of dark land in the background, the sky in the upper 1/3 of the composition is a mixed cloudy grey. The painting is faintly signed "JEAN P. LEMIEUX" in light grey paint in the lower right corner. The painting is housed in a mid 20th century grey painted wood frame with a beveled top and sight edges.
Jean Paul Lemieux (1904-1990) is best known for his depictions of flat, barren, infinite landscapes. His style was influenced by the Italian primitivist school and the Quebec folk art he often collected. Terre blanche, 1957 falls within a period of Lemieux’s works that are known for geometric lines that almost vibrate with stiffness and the limited colour palette he utilized is almost transparent in its application. The desolate landscape dominated by sky and snow leaves the viewer with a resounding sense of mystery and loneliness.
