David Bolduc

David Bolduc was a prominent Canadian abstract painter, widely regarded as one of the premier practitioners of his generation. He studied for a year at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University), then went to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal until 1965. Bolduc had his first solo exhibition at the Elysée Theatre in Montréal in 1966. After his first solo show, Bolduc moved back to Toronto and took a job in the conservation department at the Royal Ontario Museum while continuing to create and exhibit his own work. In 1968, he received a travel grant from the Canada Art Council, allowing him to travel for eight months across Europe and Asia. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, Bolduc taught at various Canadian universities. His work can be found in major collections across the country including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Art Gallery of Alberta.  

 

Daniel Baird, author for the The Canadian Encyclopedia, described Bolduc’s work as “[H]eir to the mantle of influential Canadian abstract painters Jack Bush and Gershon Iskowitz.” His signature style teeters between figuration and abstraction, often featuring bold colours and a strong central image on a colour field. His work reflects the influence of his avid traveling and reading. Bolduc moved around Canada and the globe throughout his lifetime, producing art, never spending more than a year or so without travelling. His experiences abroad can be seen reflected throughout his corpus, particularly in his works on paper, which betray the influence of Persian miniatures, Central Asian carpets, Chinese calligraphy, and North African design.

David Bolduc (1945-2010, Canada)

 

Education

Artists Workshop, Toronto, CA

Ontario College of Art, Toronto, CA

Montreal School of Fine Arts & Design, Montreal, CA

 

Select Solo Exhibitions

2025 The Journey, Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, CA

2015 David Bolduc, Five Decades, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, CA

2010 David Bolduc: Memorial,  Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, CA

2010 Days and Nights in the Forest, Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, CA

2010 A Tribute to David Bolduc, 1945-2010, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, CA

2007 First Canadian Place Gallery, Toronto, CA

2006 DeLong Gallery, Toronto CA

2005 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

2005 Thielsen Gallery, London, CA

2005 Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, CA

2005 James Baird Gallery, St. Johns, CA

2004 Moore Gallery, Toronto
, CA

2004 Wallack Gallery, Ottawa, CA

2003 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

2002 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

2001 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

1998 Waddington and Gorce, Montreal, CA

1998 Moore Gallery Ltd., Toronto, CA

1996 Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, CA

1996 Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, CA

1995 Baird Gallery, St.John’s, CA

1995 Thielsen Gallery, London, CA

1995 Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, CA

1993 Moore Gallery, Hamilton, CA

1993 Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
, CA

1993 Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, CA

1992 Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1992 Gallery Seven, Hong Kong, HK 

1991 Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, CA

1991 Art 45, Montreal, CA

1990 Moore Gallery, Hamilton, CA

1990 Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1989 Moore Gallery, Hamilton, CA

1989 Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1987 Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1986 Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal
Art 45, Montreal, CA

1985 Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1984 Galerie Don Stewart, Montreal
Art 45, Montreal, CA

1983 Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal, CA

1983 Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1982 New Colour Aquatints & Related Works on Paper’, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
, CA

1982 Paintings, Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1981 Galerie Jolliette, Quebec City, CA

1981 Paintings, 1975 – 1980, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, CA

1981 Recent Paintings, Watson/de Nagy &Co., Houston, US

1981 Ron Boyd Gallery, Chicago, US

1980 New Work, Klonaridis Inc., Toronto, CA

1980 Galerie Jolliette, Quebec City, CA

1980 Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal, CA

1979 Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal, CA

1979 Watson/de Nagy &Co., Houston, US

1977 Diane Brown Gallery, Washington, US

1977 Recent Paintings, David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, CA

1976 Watercolours and Drawings, Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, CA

1976 Marlborough Godard Gallery, Toronto, CA

1976 David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, CA

1975 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1975 Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, CA

1974 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1973 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto
Marlborough Godard Gallery, Toronto, CA

1972 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1971 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1970 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1969 20/20 Gallery, London, CA

1969 Towne Cinema, Toronto, CA

1968 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1967 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, CA

1966 Elysee Theatre, Montreal, CA

 

Select Group Exhibitions

2017 Toronto: Tributes & Tributaries, 1971-1989, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

2016 Return of the Image, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, CA

2015 Director’s Choice I, Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, CA

2011 Canadian Art in the 1960s & 1970s, Through the Lens of Coach House Press, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

2011 Toronto’s Modern Masters, Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, CA

2009 Figure, Form and Ground, University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, CA

2006 DeLong Gallery, Toronto, CA

2006 Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary, CA

2005 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

2004 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

2003 Moore Gallery, Toronto, CA

2003 The Blue Line: Alluding To The Mediterranean,
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

2003 Art Rental & Sales Gallery

2002 Waddington Gorce, Boca Raton, US

2002 Galeria Alternativa, San Jose, US

2002 Appleton Museum, Ocala, US

2001 Gallery 706, Colombo, LK

1998 Espace Othello, Essaouira, MA

1997 American Legation Museum, Tangier, MA

1984 Toronto Painting ’84 (national traveling exhibition), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON 

1983 Drawing – A Canadian Survey 1977-1982, Saidye Bronfman Centre, Montreal, CA

1982 Painting ’82, An Exhibition in Two Parts (Part 2), The Art Gallery at Harbourfront,

Toronto, CA

1982 Recent Paintings by David Bolduc, Paul Fournier, K.M. Graham, Canada House (an international traveling exhibition), Cultural Centre Gallery, London, GB

1981 Twentieth Century Canadian Painting, organized by the National Gallery of Canada,

traveling to the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and to Hokkaido, Sapporo and The Oita

Prefectural Art Center

1981 8 Painters, Wells Gallery, Ottawa, CA

1981 Viewpoint: Twenty-Nine by Nine, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, CA

1980 Toronto, Cutler/Stavaridis Gallery, Boston, US

1980 Aspects of Canadian Painting in The Seventies, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, CA

1979 Compass/8 Painters, Harbourfront Art Gallery, Toronto, CA

1978 Painting, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

1978 Toronto Sensibility, organized by Harbourfront Art Gallery, traveling to museums in Ohio, US

1977 Tendances Actuelles, Centre Culture de Canadien, Paris, FR

1977 The Fauve Heritage, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, CA

1977 Six From Toronto, Watson/de Nagy &Co., Houston, US

1977 Works On Paper, Galerie Wentzel, Hamburg, DE

1977 New Abstract Art, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, CA

1977 14 Canadians: A Critic’s Choice, Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, US

1976 Four Toronto Painters, The Diane Brown Gallery, Washington, US

1975 The Canadian Canvas, touring exhibition organized by Time Canada Ltd.

1974 The Carmen Lamanna Gallery at the Owens Art Gallery, Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, CA

1974 Contemporary Ontario Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

1973 Canada X Ten, The Edmonton Art Gallery, CA

1973 Gallery 219, Buffalo, US

1973 Art In The Corporate Environment, Marlborough-Godard
Gallery, Toronto, CA

1973 Art Gallery of Waterloo, CA

1972 Diversity – Canada East, Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, CA

1972 Diversity – Canada East, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, CA

1972 Recent Vanguard Acquisitions, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

1971 Festival of Canada, Robertson Centre For The Arts And Sciences, Binghamton, US

1971 Five Lyrical Colour Painters, Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, CA

1970 Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, US

1970 Canadian Cross-Sections, Rothmans Art Gallery of Stratford, CA

1970 Reflets des Galeries Pilotes, Maison de la Culture, Grenoble, FR

1970 Reflets des Galeries Pilotes, Musee des Art Decoratifs, Lausanne, FR

1970 Third International Pioneer Galleries Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Paris, FR

1970 Third International Pioneer Galleries Exhibition, Musee Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, FR

1969 Art For Architecture – The Wall, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

1968 Seventy Biennial of Canadian Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CA

1968 Toronto Painters Exhibition, Galerie du Siecle, Montreal, CA

1968 Canada: Art d’Aujourd’hui, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, touring Europe; Rome, Italy, Brussels, Belgium, Paris, France

1967 Young Painters of Toronto, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, touring Quebec

Ontario Centennial Awards Exhibition, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

1967 The Shaped Canvas, York University, Toronto, CA

1967 Form, Motion & Sculpture, University of Guelph, Guelph, CA

1966 Galerie Soixante, Montreal, CA

 

Art Fairs

2011 Art Toronto, Toronto, CA 

2010 Art Toronto, Toronto, CA 

2006 New York Affordable Art Fair, Paul Kuhn Gallery, New York, US

1977 Bologna Art Fair, IT

 

Teaching Experience

1986 Concordia University, (Visiting Associate Professor) Montreal, CA

1980 Ontario College Of Art, Painting Department, Sculpture Department

1973-75 Ontario College Of Art, Painting Department, Sculpture Department

1972-75 Ontario College Of Art, Painting Department, Sculpture Department

1971-75 York University

1970-72 New School, Toronto, CA

 

At Various Times:

Nova Scotia School of Art and Design, Halifax, CA

University of Southern Alberta, Calgary/Lethbridge, CA

Trent University, Peterborough, CA

Mount Alison University, Sackville, CA

 

Selected Collections

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, CA

Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, CA

Art Gallery of Brant, Brantford, CA

Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, CA

The Granite Club, Toronto, CA

Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, CA

Canadian Development Corporation Costain Ltd.

Davies, Ward & Beck

Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, CA

Hart House, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CA

Richardson Securities of Canada

Secal-Alcan

Thorne, Riddell & Co.

University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, CA

The Honourable John Aird, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CA

Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, CA

Bank of Montreal

Cadillac Fairview

Sir George Williams Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, CA

Deutsche Bank

General Foods

MacLean Hunter

Polysar Ltd.

CanWest Corporation

Shell Canada Resources Ltd.

Toronto-Dominion Bank

Westburne International Industries Ltd.

Mirvish Collection

 

Design

2001 Drop Caps Design Brick Reader, Coachhouse Books

Logo Design “Brick”

Back Cover – paperback edition Anils Ghost, Michael Ondaatje Random House

2000 Book Cover Tales From Ink Lake, Knopf

 

Writing

1997 R.J. Rania (catalogue essay published India, Canada)

1995 The Monkey King (short story), Harper Row

1976 J. Greer, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

1974 David Watson, A.G.O.

1970-80’s Art related essays for: Only Paper Today Brick Magazine.

 

Artist Books

Collaborations with a number of Canadian and American poets:

2001 David Bolduc, ‘96 Rue Mohammed V, Hub Press

2001 Victor Coleman, Parking Lots For Greg Curnoe, Coachhouse Press 

2000 Victor Coleman, Letter Drop, Coachhouse Press 

1989 Victor Coleman, Honeymoon Suite, Underwriter Editions 

1979 Wayne Clifford, An Ache In The Ear, Coachhouse Press 

1994 Roy Kiyooka, Sept/Feb, Coachhouse Press 

1987 Roy Kiyooka, Pear Tree Pomes, Coachhouse Press 

1972 David Rosenberg, Leavin America, Coachhouse Press 

1971 David Rosenberg, Paris/London, Talen Books 

1970 David Rosenberg, A Star In Your Hair, Typewriter Press

 

Featured Artwork

David Bolduc

Lapis

2006
44
 x 42
 in
 (112
 x 106.5
 cm)

David Bolduc

Portugal Spring

2007
42
 x 60
 in
 (106.5
 x 152.5
 cm)

David Bolduc

Reggae

1981
71
 x 67
 in
 (180.5
 x 170
 cm)

David Bolduc

Screen (Alphabet)

2002
38
 x 87
 in
 (96.5
 x 221
 cm)

David Bolduc

Sebald

1999
36
 x 32
 in
 (91.5
 x 81.5
 cm)

David Bolduc

The Cart

1981
66
 x 54
 in
 (167.5
 x 137
 cm)

David Bolduc

Two

1979
78
 x 66
 in
 (198
 x 167.5
 cm)

David Bolduc

Winter Night

2004
68
 x 68
 in
 (172.5
 x 172.5
 cm)

Past Exhibitions

David Bolduc – The Journey
2025 Mar 29 - Apr 23
DIRECTOR’S CHOICE I
2015 Jan 31 - Feb 25
Toronto’s Modern Masters
2011 Oct 15 - Nov 12
David Bolduc – Memorial
2010 May 05
David Bolduc – Days and Nights in the Forest
2010 Feb 04 - Mar 06

Publications

David Bolduc: The Journey

$30

David Bolduc: Days and Nights in the Forest

Abstract Painting in Canada

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