Montreal Museum of Fine Arts | The printed art of Albert Dumouchel

At the suggestion of art historian Peggy Davis, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) presents, in its graphic cabinet, an exhibition of prints by the father of modern printmaking in Quebec, Albert Dumouchel (1916 -1971). Works mainly from the MMFA collection, which has just acquired, by donation, a dozen works by the master engraver from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

As talented as he was alert, Albert Dumouchel was the companion of Alfred Pellan, Jacques de Tonnancour and Léon Bellefleur, with whom he signed the manifesto in 1948 eye prisma few months before the release of Global denial, whose radicality he did not share. This master engraver attached to traditions while being, later on, open to change, trained or inspired many Quebec artists of the late modern era and the beginning of the contemporary era, including Richard Lacroix, Roland Giguère, Henry Saxony, Yves Gaucher, Pierre Ayot and Gérard Tremblay.

“He trained the first three generations of modern engravers in Quebec, notably at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, which became the University of Quebec in Montreal,” says Peggy Davis, professor of art history. at UQAM and curator, with the curator of modern art at the MMFA, Anne Grace, of the exhibition.

Self-taught, designer of fabrics at Montreal Cotton during the Second World War, he was trained during this period by the English engraver James Lowe. He dabbled in the classic and monochrome techniques of printmaking, rubbed shoulders with figuratism, expressionism and surrealism, and ended up approaching color, screen printing, wood engraving and lithography.

The exhibition gives a good idea of ​​the extent of his graphic vocabulary and his taste for experimentation. Excavated, neat, it covers the entire period of his production, from the 1940s to 1970, illustrating the evolution of his style, according to his learning, especially during his travels in Europe. We find his references to textiles, his attraction for the effects of textures, this pronounced work on the matrices which allowed him to create rich works, with varied reliefs and imprints. And his prints from the last years of his life, more erotic, inspired by Adam and Eve and the new sexual liberation.

With 5 exceptions, the 40 exhibited works belong to the MMFA. There are also many prints by Dumouchel in Quebec collections, including those of Loto-Québec, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée d’art de Joliette or the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec. The museum could have broadened this look at Dumouchel’s graphic work with a larger-scale exhibition, given the fact that opportunities to shine the arts of print are rare in Quebec, except during the International Biennale. of contemporary prints from Trois-Rivières. But also because this artist has not had the right to an exhibition at the MMFA for 61 years. The last exhibition of his engraved work dates back to 1974, at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Anne Grace says that the option of a major exhibition was not taken up. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts now wants to favor “a connection between the public and [sa] collection “. “Why look elsewhere when we have such a large collection of works by Dumouchel? “says M.^me Grace. “It’s already very good like that, adds Peggy Davis. It is a concise, but extremely rich exhibition. It will not prevent other projects in the future. »

From February 8 to April 8, two other parts of the exhibition will be presented. One on Dumouchel’s matrices at UQAM’s Design Center, another on books, archives and artefacts, at UQAM’s Center for Rare Books and Special Collections. “There will also be a symposium on printmaking, from February 16 to 18, at UQAM and the Atelier Cirque, which will bring together artists and historians, which will be a good brainstorm around the question of printmaking today,” says Peggy Davis.

Interesting additions to this admirable, representative and informative exhibition thanks to generous information labels. Let’s hope, however, that a Quebec museum will one day devote a major retrospective to the measure of this genius for engraving, which also expressed itself through painting, photography and publishing.

Revelations: Prints by Albert Dumouchel in the MMFA Collectionuntil March 26, at the MMFA.