Celebrated for his work in painting, drawing, and sculpture, Jean-Paul Jérôme was a cosignatory to the Manifeste des Plasticiens and cofounder of the movement in 1955. He completed his studies at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in 1950, under the instruction of Stanley Cosgrove. After a sojourn in Paris from 1956 to 1958, he returned to Canada and began teaching fine art at his alma mater. He eventually left his position, in 1972, to devote himself to his art practice full-time. He was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1978.
As stated in the artist’s biography, published in the exhibition catalogue Les Plasticiens et les années 1950/60, “ Jean-Paul Jérôme abandoned the plasticien aesthetic in 1957 while living in Paris, impressed by the rise of lyrical abstraction. Toward the end of his career, he returned to a complex form of highly colourful geometric abstraction.” (Translation ours) Nante (1984) marks a cautious but prophetic return to the form, displaying the same earthy colours of his 1955 works, while championing his new commitment to the aesthetics of geometric composition. The painting is a pictorial tour de force and a prodigious homage to Op Art. (A. L.)
