Artist Information
Jean McEwen
RCA
1923-1999
Photo: Jean McEwen, 1998, taken by: Marc-André Grenier
Jean McEwen was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1923. He completed a degree in Pharmacy at the University of Montreal in 1948, but soon realized he was more of an artist and a poet than a chemist. Later his painted work would be exhibited alongside that of the soon-to-be-famous Automatist painters of Montreal, with Paul-Émile Borduas as their leader.
Starting in 1951, numerous solo exhibitions were held in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and New York (Martha Jackson Gallery). A first retrospective show was presented in 1973 at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, McEwen 1953-1973; a second retrospective show was organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine arts in 1987, entitled Jean McEwen: Colour in Depth.
Jean McEwen is considered one of Canada’s most influential abstract painters. He received many awards during his career, including the Concours Artistique for the Province of Quebec (1961) and an honorable mention during the Sondage 68 show at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1968). In 1977 he received the Victor Lynch-Staunton Scholarship from the Canada Council, which honours outstanding artistic achievement by Canadian mid-career artists. He was also awarded the prestigious Paul-Émile Borduas Award by the Province of Quebec in 1998.
Jean McEwen died in Montreal on January 9, 1999.
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Jean McEwen, Wallace Galleries, Calgary
2020 Jean McEwen, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
2018 McEwen,“Poèmes barbares,” vingt ans après, Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal
2015 Jean McEwen, Feuilles aux yeux de pluie (watercolours), Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal
2014 Calque – Exhibition of Works on Paper, Galerie Simon Blais, Montreal
2013 Bleu, Winchester Galleries, Victoria
2012 Jean McEwen, La séduction de l’acrylique, Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal
2009 Montreal: The 50s, 60’s, 70’s, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
2005 Early Paintings from the 60’s and 70’s, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
2004 Jean McEwen: Last Works, Gallery One One One, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
Jean McEwen, Rétrospective, Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal
2001 Jean McEwen, Comme une acquarelle (watercolours), Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal
1998 Jean McEwen, Poèmes barbares, Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal
1997 Important Paintings from the 60s & 70s, Mira Godard Gallery
1991 Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City
1989 Waddington & Gorce Inc., Montreal
1987 Waddington & Gorce Inc. Retrospective, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1986 Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
1985 Jean McEwen: A Retrospective, Waddington & Gorce Galleries, Montreal
1984 Jean McEwen: Thirty Years, Mira Godard Gallery
1983 Galerie Jolliet, Montreal
1982 Jean McEwen, New Paintings, Mira Godard Gallery
1981 Jean McEwen, Recent Paintings, Mira Godard Gallery, Calgary
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
1979 Jean McEwen: Suite Parisienne, Mira Godard Gallery
1978 Jean McEwen, Canadian Cultural Exhibition, Paris
1977 Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
1976 Equinox Gallery, Vancouver
Marlborough Godard Gallery, Montreal
1975 Marlborough Godard Gallery, Toronto
1974-75 Jean McEwen A Retrospective, Canadian Touring Exhibition
1973 Marlborough Godard Gallery, Montreal
McEwen 1953 - 1973, Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal (catalogue)
1972 Marlborough Godard Gallery, Toronto
1971 Galerie Godard Lefort, Montreal
1969 Galerie Place Royale, Quebec
Galerie Godard Lefort, Montreal
1965-66 Gallery Moos, Toronto
1964 Galerie Anderson-Mayer, Paris
Galerie Agnes Lefort, Montreal
Gallery Moos, Toronto
1963 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York
1962 Galerie Agnes Lefort, Montreal
Gallery Moos, Toronto
1960 Gallery XII, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1958 Galerie Denise Delrue, Montreal
1956 Galerie Actuelle, Montreal
1954 Galerie Agnes Lefort, Montreal
1951 Galerie Agnes Lefort, Montreal
Selected Collections
Montreal Museum Fine Arts
Musée du Québec
Art Gallery of Ontario
National Gallery of Canada
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal
Hart House, University of Toronto
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Edmonton Art Gallery
London Regional Art Gallery
Vancouver Art Gallery
Queen’s University, Kingston
Confederation Art Centre
Toronto Dominion Bank
Concordia University
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton
McGill University, Montreal
Canada Council Art Bank
Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton
Norcen Energy Resources
Secal-Alcan
Gordon Securities
Imperial Oil
Esso Resources
The Smithsonian, Hirshhorn Collection, Washington, D.C.
Commissions
1991 Bank of Nova Scotia, Tour Scotia
Montreal
Jean McEwen Exhibition e-catalog 2023
Jean McEwen
March 18 – April 12, 2023
Opening Reception: March 18: 2-5PM
For the first time ever in Calgary, we will be hosting the exclusive exhibition of select works by Jean McEwen. Celebrating the centennial of his birth, Jean McEwen is a renowned Canadian (Quebec) artist whom created works that were ground-breaking in the art scene during the action expression movement of the 50's-60's and beyond.
His works were always created with a deeply thought-out idea in mind. They demand an emotional response from whomever come upon them. He is known for his innovation and contribution to art. His works are exhibited in the MoMA, The National Gallery of Canada, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, to name a few. McEwen always insisted that his works were focused and based by the sensation that one gets from art, not based on criteria or theories of art. This exhibition holds true to this sentiment, and is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime exhibition to hit Calgary which shouldn't be missed.