JEAN PAUL LEMIEUX – “L’APRES-MIDI SEREIN”

“L’Apres-midi Serein” 1964, oil on canvas, 6 1/2” x 13 ½”

Lemieux visited his train series subject throughout his career. The best know of that series would be “The Noon Train” 1956 which is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

The artist enjoyed travelling by train and seeing a landscape from a distance and slowly approaching it. The train also provides a simple abstract form for his subtle composition. There is a loneliness of a distant train much like his isolated figures in a cold Quebec landscape. They become part of that simple but beautiful land.

In this case the train has blended into the compositions background and is barely discernable without a closer look.