Les Grâces

Inspired by La Danse (1909), the celebrated work by Matisse, and by the famous French theatre of the same name, Folies-Bergères(1973) is a testament to Alfred Pellan’s technical virtuosity and perfect pictorial mastery at the height of his career. The same can be said of Les Grâces (1974), which draws upon the classic feminine subject, reinterpreted since the Renaissance, as well as from the motif of the bathers, which inspired the artist profoundly. Normally a trio, here the figures form a quartet. Created around the time Pellan completed Bestiaire, Folies-Bergères and Les Grâces would be reproduced as silk-screened prints by the Guilde graphique, two of which are in the collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.