Robert Marchessault | RESILIENCE

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Robert Marchessault, "NAMUR"

oil on canvas, 36 x 48 in. Courtesy of the Gallery.

Robert Marchessault is a well-established Canadian painter with an extensive exhibition history. His poetic landscapes focus on space, light, atmosphere and distance. Marchessault’s new works explore one of his beloved subjects - the anthropomorphic presence and emotional impact of a single tree standing amidst wide open plains. Viewing and contemplating the collection in its entirety evokes a sense of tranquility and timelessness. 

Artist statement:

My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove nonessential visual elements. When a work is successful, it has a poetry that presents some aspect of my understanding of who I am.

In considering this group of new paintings, I see a continuation of my love for iconic trees. These tree paintings are about more than beauty; in them I try to celebrate natural resilience. It excites me to see abundant flowering and green growth emerge in spite of stress and hardships. Tree spirit and energies show outwardly through shape, colour and textures; I mark these onto the surface with my brushes.  These qualities inspire me. The act of painting is my way to respond positively to the way life overcomes hardships. This often begins in a wordless moment of shifted perception.   -Robert Marchessault, 2022

ROBERT MARCHESSAULT

Born in Montreal in 1953, Robert Marchessault achieved a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal in 1978. His work has been exhibited in nearly 120 solo and group shows throughout North America. Since relocating to Ontario, he has been the recipient of multiple Ontario Arts Council grants, and in 2000 was the Artist in Residence at the Joshua Tree National Monument, Palm Springs. Selected collections include Hudson's Bay Company, Ernst & Young LLP, The Royal Bank of Canada, Esso Resources Canada Ltd, Xerox Canada Ltd., Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc., and Nissan Canada Inc.