Duncan de Kergommeaux , (born July 15, 1927), is a senior Ottawa painter whose work has veered between abstraction and representation.A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada He is known for his grid or geometric paintings, his landscapes and his cow paintings.

Career

De Kergommeaux was born of

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

descent in Premier,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. In 1951, he attended the

Banff School of Fine Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

and afterwards, studied with Jan Zack in Victoria. In 1953, he won the Victoria Times Mural Competition and in 1953, he moved to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. In 1955, he studied with

Hans Hofmann Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstrac ...

in his Summer School of Fine Arts in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He taught art classes in Ottawa in 1957 and, having won a Canada Council award, studied at Instituto Allende in Mexico in 1958. Further teaching followed. He taught at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

and St. Patrick's College in Ottawa. and then from 1970–1993 taught in the visual arts department at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

, where he was Chair of the Department from 1981–1984. He received three full-year study leaves to work full-time on his artist practice in Paris and New York. De Kergommeaux lives and works in Ottawa.

Selected exhibitions

De Kergommeaux has had more than 50 solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions since 1953. Among his early solo shows were:

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) is an art museum located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Situated in Rockland, Victoria, the museum occupies a building complex; made up of the Spencer Mansion, and the Exhibition Galleries. The ...

(1965); The

Isaacs Gallery Avrom Isaacs, D.F.A. (March 19, 1926 – January 15, 2016) was a Canadian art dealer. Career Avrom Isaacovitch, known as Av Isaacs, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and moved to Toronto with his family in 1941. Isaacs graduated with a bachelo ...

, Toronto (1965); Mcintosh Memorial Art Gallery,

(1966);

Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; french: Musée d’art du Centre de la Confédération) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion f ...

, Charlottetown (1966); and the Gallery Denise Delrue, Montreal (1969). He also exhibited at various Biennials of Canadian Art and at a show in the National Gallery of Canada (1967–1968) in a two-person touring exhibit. De Kergommeaux had a solo exhibition of cow paintings at the Embassy Cultural House in 1983. Other survey exhibitions include: ''Duncan de Kergommeaux: An Art of Ordered Sensations'' curated by Matthew Teitelbaum in 1986 and ''Process Structure Meaning'' curated by José L. Bario-Garay in 1995 (both for

Museum London Museum London is an art and history museum located in London, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the forks of the Thames River. It started its operations in 1940 with London Public Library and amalgamated with London Regional Art Gallery and Lon ...

); ''Gridlocked'' curated by Katie Cholette in 1999, ''Grid Paintings'' curated by Robert McKaskell in 2000 and ''These Are the Marks I Make: Duncan de Kergommeaux'' at the Ottawa Art Gallery and Museum London in 2010/11. He is represented by Michael Gibson Gallery in London, Ontario.

Selected public collections

His work is in the National Gallery of Canada,

, Mcintosh Gallery,

; the

, and the Canada Council Art Bank. In 1993, a collection of his work was established at

Art Gallery in Ottawa.

Personal life

He was married to Mary Anne Carrières (1947–2017).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Kergommeaux, Duncan Artists from British Columbia Canadian abstract painters 20th-century Canadian painters 1927 births Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Canadian contemporary artists Canadian male artists 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian painters Living people