Jean Guy Mongeau

Jean-Guy Mongeau was born in Verdun, Montreal. He graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in 1957 with a degree in advertising art and began a career in that field, but found no satisfaction in it. Turning to painting in 1959, he moved from abstract figurative work to lyrical abstraction. He quickly distinguished himself by winning the Club des Beaux-Arts prize in 1959, the Salon de la Jeune Peinture prize in Montreal in 1960, and the Winnipeg Show in both 1961 and 1962.

From 1961 to 1983, Mongeau taught plastic arts during the day while devoting his nights to painting. He worked primarily on masonite surfaces, covering them with smooth coats of enamel paint, a medium he used for most of his paintings and which required rapid execution. The nocturnal atmosphere suited the painter's temperament, as he oscillated between periods of overflowing energy and long contemplative moments. Like photography, Mongeau structured his work around research into form and chromatic values.

Mongeau's personal painting style was immediately recognizable. Art critic Dorothy Pfeiffer of the Montreal Gazette described his work: "Mongeau's personal style of painting is recognizable immediately. He uses oil paint almost as if it were enamel. His colors either smoulder or flare up, or else they quietly sing." He constructed his paintings by superimposing and structuring lines, cubic forms, and masses of abyssal black illuminated by deep red, green, indigo, blue, and white. In this universe of rich tones, order triumphed over chaos.

Mongeau held his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Hélène de Champlain in 1960, followed by an exhibition at Walter Klinkhoff Gallery the same year. He exhibited at Galerie Libre in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, and 1966, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1960, the École des Beaux-Arts Montreal in 1961, and the London Art Museum in 1961.

In 1972, Mongeau stopped painting for the next twelve years, though he remained active. He resumed his photographic experiments and created murals and objects in ceramic, steel, tin, and wood, playing with complexity, simplicity, and humor. In 1983, he devoted himself full time to photography, multimedia art, and painting. When he returned to painting in 1983, his line work was more deliberate, sometimes softened and sometimes accentuated by contrasts in tone. Seeking new forms, he explored drawing using a palette of black and gray with grease pencil, drypoint, India ink, and charcoal.