Louis-Pierre Bougie (16 August 1946 – 10 January 2021) was a Canadian painter and printmaker specialized in engraving and etching. He developed his knowledge of intaglio techniques at Atelier Lacourière-Frélaut in Paris, where he worked for fifteen years, and through travel and study in France, Portugal, Poland, Ireland, Finland, and New York. His work is regularly shown in Canadian, American, and European galleries, and is represented in major public and private collections, notably in Québec and New York. Bougie was considered Québec's foremost engraver for the depth and consistency of his work. He died from pneumonia.
Training After an introduction to printmaking at École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, where he attended classes with Angèle Beaudry, Louis-Pierre Bougie studied in Paris, notably at Lacourière-Frélaut (1979–1993), Atelier Rene Tazé, and Atelier Champfleury, and in Vancouver and Montreal. Additional training in Strasbourg (1979–1982), Kraków (1980), Helsinki (2003), and Buenos Aires (2006) introduced him to a compagnonnage-like approach to the transmission of printmaking skills. 2006 - Québec artist residency, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2003 - Québec artist residency, Helsinki, Finland 1996 - Québec artist residency, New York City, United States 1992–1993 - Atelier Champfleury, Atelier Lacourière-Frélaut, and Atelier René Tazé, Paris, France, and Atelier Sagamie, Alma 1988 - Atelier Lacourière-Frélaut, Paris, France (engraving) 1984–1987 - Atelier René Tazé, Paris, France 1982–1987 - Atelier Circulaire, Montreal 1980 - Studio Lotozowska 3, Kraków, Poland 1979–1987 - Cité Internationale and Lacourière-Frélaut, Paris, France (engraving) 1979–1982 – Visiting artist, Arts Décoratifs, Strasbourg (lithography); Ateliers Champfleury (lithography) and Lacourière-Frélaut, Paris, France 1975–1982- Atelier Luc Nadeau, Montreal, and Baie St-Paul 1975–1977- Atelier Arachel (lithography, etching) and Atelier Graff, Montreal 1972–1973 - Vancouver School of Art (independent student), Vancouver 1969–1972 - Atelier de Recherche Graphique, Guilde Graphiqu, Montreal 1967–1970 - École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (independent student with Angèle Beaudry)
Work Louis-Pierre Bougie produced a considerable body of engraved and painted works that applied traditional techniques such as burin, aquatint, and chine collé to contemporary printmaking. An heir to Goya, Blake, and Rops, he had developed an original monotype technique that combined engraving with live figure drawing in a reversal of traditional processes: the paper is first drawn with pierre noir and reworked with acrylic before receiving a print from a copper plate marked with spit-bite and drypoint. The finished print captures all elements with exceptional transparency, bringing its subject to light in the true sense of illumination. In Bougie's work, engraving was a process that both opened and sealed spaces. Desire and imagination inhabited matter in unexpected ways, and appearance was literally cast in a different light (through highlights and illumination), giving us back a bit of ourselves.
Bougie also illustrated the cover artwork of several Canadian musicians, including Harmonium's Les cinq saisons, René Lussier's Le trésor de la langue, Le corps de l'ouvrage, Au diable vert, and Le contrat (with Gilles Gobeil), and Conventum's Le bureau central des utopies and 77-79 + Réédition.
Influence and involvement In the early 1980s, while also conducting residencies at major printmaking studios abroad (including Paris and Strasbourg), Bougie joined forces with Catherine Farish, Pierre-Léon Tétreault, Kittie Bruneau, and other print-based artists to found Atelier Circulaire. Throughout his career, he promoted the work of Quebec printmakers both locally and outside Canada. He also collaborated closely with writers and poets. In 1983, the poets Gaston Miron and Michael La Chance together signed a telegram to Bougie: We salute Louis-Pierre Bougie, one of those rare souls who is always a step ahead, continuously opening the way to new possibilities and escaping the bounds of mortal time. As an engraver and etcher of international renown, he has brought greater visibility to Québec printmaking and has been pivotal in inviting printmakers from abroad to take part in major collaborations with Québec, including artist's books, residencies, and exchanges between Québec and other countries. He has also helped foster talent in Québec, both through his work with artists at Atelier Circulaire and as the organizer and curator of numerous exhibitions.
Selected exhibitions Bougie's work benefited from the support of major curators such as Léo Rosshandler, Bernard Lévy, Céline Mayrand, Gilles Daigneault, Claude Morissette, and Anne-Marie Ninacs.
Artist's books A significant part of Louis-Pierre Bougie's printed oeuvre involved a dialogue with poetry in the form of collaborative exhibitions and, above all, artist's books that brought together the artistry of typographers, printmakers, poets, and bookbinders. Bougie created books with many poets, among them Gaston Miron, Paul Chamberland, Geneviève Letarte, Jérôme Élie, Michel Butor, Michel van Schendel, François-Xavier Marange, Paule Marier, and Michaël La Chance. Working closely with the authors, he contributed a distinctive sensibility that was both rough and sensitive, abrasive and idyllic. His artist's books were featured in the following exhibitions: 1990 – Titre?, Bibliothèque des arts, Université du Québec à Montréal 2005 – Titre?, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec 2007 – Actualité de l’estampe au Québec, Grande Bibliothèque, BAnQ (second iteration of exhibition originally presented in Québec City, 2005) 2013 - Louis-Pierre Bougie – 30 ans de livres d'artiste, Centre d'archives de Montréal, BAnQ (curator: Claude Morissette)
Collections Bibliothèque nationale d’Ottawa Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montreal Bibliothèque nationale de Paris Library of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec National Bank of Canada Caisses populaires Desjardins Groupe Laurentienne Provigo Loto-Québec New York Public Library Newark Public Library
Catalogs and monographs 2013 - Michaël La Chance, Louis-Pierre Bougie. Espaces chavirés, torsions du désir. Foreword by Isabelle de Mévius, preface by Georges Leroux. Montreal: Les Éditions de Mévius. 2007 – Léo Rosshandler, Désert vert. Quebec City: Éditions Lacerte Art Contemporain - Galerie Orange. 2005 – Sylvie Alix, Louis-Pierre Bougie: prix de la Fondation Monique et Robert Parizeau 2005. Ed. Anne-Marie Ninacs, with translations by C. Bilodeau and M. E. Elgue. Quebec City: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. 2005 - Michel van Schendel, Absence de bruit. Quebec City: Éditions Lacerte Art Contemporain - Galerie Orange. 2001 - Bernard Lévy, Études au quotidien. With poems by Paul Chamberland and Michaël La Chance. Quebec City: Éditions Galerie Madeleine Lacerte. 1996 - Louis-Pierre Bougie, Journal d’exil, New York 1996. With texts and poems by Michaël La Chance, Jérôme Élie, Geneviève Letarte, François-Xavier Marange, and Paule Marier. Quebec City: Galerie Madeleine Lacerte. 1996 – Louis-Pierre Bougie, Christine Palmiéri, Espace D. René Harrison, et al., De la monstruosité, expression des passions. Montreal : Jaune-Fusain. 1991 - Michaël La Chance, Céline Mayrand, Morsures. Louis-Pierre Bougie Gravures et monotypes 1986–1990. Preface by Léo Rosshandler. Montreal: Éditions Promotion des arts Lavalin, Maison de la Culture Côte-des-Neiges, Atelier Circulaire. 1978 - Louis-Pierre Bougie (dessins). Quebec City: Musée du Québec.
Selected solo exhibitions
2015 UQAC and Galerie La Corniche, Chicoutimi Galerie d'art du Centre culturel de l’Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke Galerie du Théâtre, Magog Galerie d’art Jean-Claude Bergeron, Ottawa Galerie atelier Circulaire, Montreal
2014 Musée d'art contemporain de Baie St-Paul (retrospective), Baie St-Paul Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City Centre d’arts Orford, Orford
2013 Centre culturel 1700 La Poste (retrospective), Montreal Bibliothèque et archives nationales du Québec (30 ans de livres d’artiste), Montreal
2012 Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay, Montreal Bibliothèque de Sainte-Thérèse (retrospective), Sainte-Thérèse Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City Maison de la culture Villeray - Parc-Extension (30 ans de livres d’artiste), Montreal
2007 Galerie Orange, Montreal
2005 Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (Monique and Robert Parizeau Foundation Prize), Quebec City Centre d'exposition de l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi
2004 Atelier Circulaire, Montreal Galerie Orange, Montreal Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City
2003 Galerie Pierre-Luc St-Laurent, Ottawa
2002 Atelier Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City Galerie Pierre-Luc St-Laurent, Ottawa Galerie Éric Devlin, Montreal
2001 Calligraphic Centre, Winston-Salem, United States
2000 Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Quebec City Atelier-Galerie Presse-papier (Festival de Poésie), Trois-Rivières Calligraphic Centre, Winston-Salem, United States
1999 Galerie Eric Devlin, Montreal Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City Centre culturel de Saint-Jérôme
1998 Galerie Nane Cailler, Lausanne, Switzerland
1997 Galerie L’Autre Équivoque, Ottawa.
1996 Galerie Madeleine Lacerte (Journal d'exil), Quebec City Atelier Circulaire, Montreal La Galerie Trois-Rivières (Festival de poésie), Trois-Rivières Centre Culturel Henri Lemieux, Ville La Salle
1994 Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec City Galerie James Roussel, Montreal Galerie L’Autre Équivoque, Ottawa
1993 La Galerie, Trois-Rivières Galerie Michèle Broutta, Paris, France
1992 Galerie Nane Cailler, Lausanne, Switzerland
1991 Maison de la Culture Côtes des Neiges (Promotion des arts Lavalin), Montreal Susan Conway Gallery, Georgetown, Washington DC, United States Michel Tétreault Art Contemporain, Montreal
1990 Circa, Montreal L'autre équivoque, Ottawa
1989 Aire du Verseau, Paris (France) L'autre Équivoque, Ottawa
1988 Galerie L'Aire du Verseau, Paris and Dijon, France Michel Tétreault Art Contemporain, Montreal Grand Palais à Paris (SAGA 88, FIAC Édition), France
1987 Galerie Triangle, Brussels, Belgium
1986 L'autre Équivoque, Ottawa
1986 Michel Tétreault Art Contemporain, Montreal
1985 Délégation du Québec à Paris, Paris, France
1984 Galerie de l'Université de Moncton, Moncton Radio-Canada, Moncton
1983 Michel Tétreault Art Contemporain, Montreal
1982 Galerie Jean-Jacques Thibeault, Montreal
1981 Independent exhibition, Quebec City
1980 Délégation du Québec à Paris, France Studio exhibition, Montreal
1979 Centre d'art du Mont-Royal, Montreal Atelier Graff, Montreal Studio exhibition, Montreal
1978 Musée du Québec, Quebec City
1974 Balcon les Images, Montreal Galerie du Vieux Marché, Ottawa
1971–72 Atelier Galerie Laurent Tremblay, Montreal
Artist books 2013–15 - Ainsi fait, 13 engravings, text by François-Xavier Marange. Montreal-Paris: Éditions de la Griffe d’Acier. 2011 - Les mots griffonnés, 12 engravings, text by Michel van Schendel. Montreal-Paris: Éditions de la Griffe d’Acier. 2005 - Le jardinier, 17 engravings, text by Michel van Schendel. Montreal-Paris: Éditions de la Griffe d’Acier. 2004 - Terre brune, 25 engravings, poem by Michel van Schendel. Montreal-Paris: Éditions de la Griffe d’Acier. 2000 - Flou comme la nuit, 7 engravings on chine collé, poem by Geneviève Letarte. Saint-Lambert-Montreal: Éditions Bonfort and Éric Develin. 1996 - Rencontres, 16 engravings on Japan paper, texts by Paule Marier, François-Xavier Marange, Geneviève Letarte, and Jérôme Élie. Quebec City: Éditions Galerie Madeleine Lacerte.