​N a t h a l i e    F r e n i è r e
c o n t e m p o r a r y    l a n d s c a p e    a r t i s t

Starting April 3, 2011, the Mont-Saint-Hilaire Museum of Fine Arts presents an exhibition dedicated to artists' palettes. This exhibition features a selection from the collection of Claude Bouchard, who, while actively involved in the art world from the 1960s onward, had the idea of approaching artists and asking them for a palette. The very first palette, acquired in 1969, belonged to the painter Joseph Plaskett, who was then living in Paris. The palette collection would grow, thanks to Mr. Bouchard's many encounters in his capacity as an art dealer, collector, and art critic.

Of the 47 artists' palettes featured in this exhibition, some belonged to war painters (Bruno Bobak, Molly Lamb Bobak, Robert Hyndman, Anthony C. Law, Tom Wood), others to Automatist painters (Fernand Leduc, Marcelle Ferron, Marcel Barbeau). A closer look at the collection reveals its great diversity, showcasing painters from various regions of Quebec and Canada, including Iain Baines, Graham Metson, Jean-François Provost, Suzanne Joubert, Marcella Maltais, Henri Masson, Pierre Huot, Marc Séguin, and many others. The public is invited to meet the artists at the opening reception on Sunday, April 3, at 2 p.m.

It is worth noting that in the vast majority of cases, each artist's palette exhibited at the Musée des beaux-arts de Mont-Saint-Hilaire is paired with a contemporary painting. The observed correspondences between the palette and the painting are striking, and as such, the exhibition is certainly worth seeing. Several paintings were loaned by the artists themselves, and the others come from private collections.