In the Parrots' Garden - Yellow Form

About In the Parrots' Garden - Yellow Form

This contemporary abstract acrylic painting by Paul Fournier has a tropical theme.

Lauded as one of Canada’s finest abstract expressionists, for more than six decades, Paul Fournier has produced joyful and colourful artwork. Early in his career, he received praise from the distinguished NY art critic, Donald Kuspit, who described his work as that of an ‘exotic modernist.’ And, in the sixties, Fournier was part of a group of celebrated Toronto painters…Milly Ristvedt and David Bolduc, among them who, explored the techniques and forms of abstraction.
The viewer’s eye is drawn to this lush, colourful painting by a ‘plume’ of bright yellow and orange that pops against the rich green backdrop. Expressive brushstrokes of deep blue, light green, purple, pink and white ‘crown’ the yellow form. Fournier spent some time in the Caribbean, and the saturated colours of the tropics are referenced in much of his work.

“As a painter, I’m doing the same thing with colour, shape and movement that a musician does.” Paul Fournier

‘Fournier as a highly intuitive artist with a profound belief in the expressive power of his materials, always makes us aware of the sensuality of paint, the excitement of the act of painting.” Karen Wilkin, Art critic

Paul Fournier was born during the Great Depression in Simcoe, Ontario. He first studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1959 and went on to study printmaking at McMaster University in Hamilton in 1967. Fournier also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in 1996, where he’d also been the artist in residence. Fournier became a member of a group of artists in Toronto who were mentored by Jack Bush and together explored modernist expressionism. During a career that spans six decades, Fournier has had solo exhibitions in several Canadian cities and in the U.S. His work is held in private collections in North and South America and Europe. Public collections include the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington.