Gaudreau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. At age 10, he studied drawing at the Séminaire des Pères Maristes.[1] He learned traditional techniques like Mezzotint and the role of geometry in drawing.
As a teen, he studied under Jean Paul Lemieux and held his first solo exhibition at 17.[4] He later worked with copper from Château Frontenac’s South turret remains.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Reactions
According to Robert Bernier, "Chance encounters and the very spirit of his artistic production have led Gaudreau to associate, for many years, dance and performance art to his painting. Both by the themes he tackles and in the conception of the many events he put together, the body has become a central element of his work."[11]
Nathalie Côté has said "He is without a doubt, a singular figure of the Quebec visual arts world."[12]
Juliette Laurent said, "The brush strokes recall Riopelle, Pollock, Stella, Klimt and Ferron; some traces evoke the Automatists and the flights dear to the lyrical abstracts." Admittedly, the artist avails himself of a postmodernism that tends to integrate all streams as bare witnesses the presence of figurative and non-figurative elements, women with lascivious faces, sinuous lines and the juxtaposition of vibrant hues and gilding. The predominant gestural as well as the intentionally less than finished and more primary aspect of his painting constitute trials at forging a personal style."[13]
^Bernier, Robert (October 2002). La peinture au Québec depuis les années 1960 (in French). Montréal, Québec: Les éditions de l'homme. pp. 218–219. ISBN2-7619-1566-6.
Robert, Guy (1990). Jean Gaudreau : expressivité dans un nouveau monde. Catalogue on the 1979–1990 retrospective (in French). Quebec: Éditions Malibu. p. 9.
Bélanger, Jacques (2009). Le pied au plancher / Feet on the Floor (in French and English). Translated by Ratcliffe, Abigail. Photography, Simon Clark. Quebec: MC Communications. ISBN978-2-9806728-1-1.
Zÿlbeck (2015). Jean Gaudreau, au coeur de nos vies (in French and English). Translated by Millar, Christine. MC Communications.
Motulsky-Falardeau, Alexandre (2014). Jean Gaudreau, ERVIUC (in French and English). Translated by Ratcliffe, Abigail. MC Communications. ISBN978-2-9806728-2-8.
Côté, Nathalie (2007). Jean Gaudreau : cycle de vie / Life Cycle. Cycle de vie, Parcours 1995–2007 (in French and English). Translated by Hamilton, Grant. Photography, Pierre Soulard. Quebec.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Bernier, Robert (2002). La peinture au Québec depuis les années 1960. Montreal: Les éditions de l'homme. pp. 218–219. ISBN2-7619-1566-6.