View source for The Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montreal

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{{short description|Canadian art collectives, 1956-1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
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| formation = {{start date and age|1956}}
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| extinction = 1961
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| type = Arts association
| status = Charity
| purpose = Exhibitions and networking
| headquarters = [[Montreal]], PQ, Canada
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| region = Montreal, Canada
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| language = French, English
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The '''Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montreal''' ('''NFAAM''')/ '''L'Association des artistes non figuratifs de Montréal''' was a Canadian art group in Quebec that existed from 1956 to 1961. It had a diverse membership formed from both ''[[Les Automatistes]]'' and ''[[Les Plasticiens]]'' as well as semi-abstractionists and over time, numbered almost 50 of the abstract artists in Montreal, extending over many media. Its purpose as a society was to exhibit Montreal non-figurative painters, sculptors, and printmakers in Society shows or elsewhere and to focus the attention of the conservative public and staff of museums on abstract art.<ref name="Paikowsky" >{{cite journal |last1=Paikowsky |first1=Sandra |title=L'Association des Artistes Non Figuratifs de Montréal / The Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montreal |journal=Vie des Arts |date=1981 |volume=26 |issue=103 |pages=29–78|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=Paikowsky%2C+Sandra+(1981).+%22L%27Association+des+Artistes+Non+Figuratifs+de+Montr%C3%A9al+%2F+The+Non-Figurative+Artists+Association+of+Montreal%22.+Vie+des+Arts.+26+(103)%3A+29%E2%80%9378. |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref>
Meetings at [[Guido Molinari]]'s ''Galerie L'Actuelle'' provided the impetus for the organization by its 20 founding members. The three members of the provisional council were [[Fernand Leduc]], [[Jauran (Rodolphe de Repentigny)]] and [[Pierre Gauvreau]].<ref name="Paikowsky" /> Leduc was elected president for the first three and a half years and de Repentigny, secretary.<ref name="Paikowsky" />{{sfn|Reid|2012|p=294}} [[Léon Bellefleur]] was appointed as advisor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Artists |url=https://www.galeriecosner.com/en/artists/17-leon-bellefleur.html |website=www.galeriecosner.com |publisher=Galerie Cosner, Montreal |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref> Among the founding members was [[Paterson Ewen]] and online is a photo of 18 of the 20 founding members holding up their work in 1957 in ''Paterson Ewen: Life & Work''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hatch|first1=John G.|title=Paterson Ewen: Life & Work |url=https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/paterson-ewen/biography |website=www.aci-iac.ca |publisher=Art Canada Institute |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref>
The inaugural show at the Hélène-de-Champlain Restaurant was unjuried like all the following shows and consisted of 51 works, mostly paintings, by 29 artists. It was the first time the abstract artists of Montreal were shown as a recognized and identifiable group. Critical response was positive.<ref name="Paikowsky" /><ref>{{cite web |title=The Non-figurative Artists' Association of Montreal = L'Association des artistes non-figuratifs de Montréal , 1960-1961 |url=https://library.gallery.ca/search~S1?/tnon-figurative+artists+association/tnon+figurative+artists+association/1%2C1%2C3%2CB/frameset&FF=tnon+figurative+artists+association+of+montreal+lassociation+des+artistes+non+figuratifs+de+montreal&1%2C%2C3 |website=library.gallery.ca |publisher=National Gallery of Canada |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref>
The last show of the NFAAM was a circulating exhibition organized by the [[National Gallery of Canada]] in 1960 which was wide-ranging and included [[Micheline Beauchemin]] among others such as [[Marcel Barbeau]]. Afterward, the Non-Figurative Artists Association of Montreal ceased to exist, largely due to the increase in opportunity to exhibit in commercial galleries. However, it had a critical function for a time in Quebec's cultural evolution<ref name="Paikowsky" /> and assured the place of abstraction in Montreal.{{sfn|Paikowsky|1983|p=14}}
==References==
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==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last1=Paikowsky|first1=Sandra|title=L'Association des artistes non figuratifs de Montréal = The Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montréal. |date=1983 |publisher=Sir George Williams Art Galleries/Galeries d'art Sir George Williams |location=Montreal|isbn= 9782920394032|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbtPAAAAMAAJ |access-date=15 September 2024}}
*{{cite book |last1=Reid |first1=Dennis |title=A Concise History of Canadian Painting |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford U Press|isbn=9780195444568 |url=https://library.gallery.ca/search~S1?/areid%2C+dennis/areid+dennis/1%2C1%2C112%2CB/frameset&FF=areid+dennis+richard+++++1943+++++2023&34%2C%2C112 |access-date=15 September 2024}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Non-Figurative Artists Association of Montreal, The}}
[[Category:Culture of Quebec]]
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[[Category:Canadian artist groups and collectives]]
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[[Category:1950s establishments in Quebec]]
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[[Category:20th-century Canadian painters]]
[[Category:Canadian abstract painters]]