Claude Tousignant Canadien, 1932

Born in Montreal, Quebec in 1932, Claude Tousignant always knew he wanted to be an artist. From 1948 to 1951, he attended the School of Art and Design at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He then travelled to Paris where he studied at the Académie Ranson. returning to Montreal in the spring of 1952. Upon graduation he became a part of the Plasticiens art group, focusing on experimental styles of abstract painting as well as the Montreal Association of Non-Figurative artists. In 1962, Tousignant introduced the form of the circle, which would become his signature motif, into his geometric paintings.

With their vibrant colours and large size, Tousignant’s paintings can be categorized in several ways: minimalist, expressionist and abstractionist.