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(1928-2000)
 Bruce Le Dain is recognized as among Canada's finest contemporary impressionist painters. For over 40 year he painted his subjects directly from nature, travelling extensively throughout Canada, the New England coastline and England. Unique to his work are the elements of atmosphere and light. His winter landscapes and skies are particularly noteworthy. At its best, the work is of serene contemplation. The paintings appear to contain and be contained by stillness. The subject matter of his paintings reflects a warm sensibility and a close relationship and concern for the natural environment. Closer study of his work leaves one with a sense of peace and a quiet calm.
Born in Montreal in 1928, Le Dain’s work was selected in 1936 for the International Children’s Art Exhibition, U.S.A. By 1946 he had enrolled at Sir George Williams University to study fine art. Le Dain’s work was accepted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Art’s Spring Shows in 1949, 1952, and 1953. From 1953 to 1957 he lived in London, England where he attended the St. Martin¹s School of Art. He also studied and traveled in Europe, and then returned to Canada to settle in Montreal, where he was a director of the art department of a public relations firm. Le Dain exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy in 1966 and won First Prize for his paintings shown in the Price Fine Arts Award for the years 1967 and 1969. One of Le Dain’s paintings was presented to the former Prime Minister of Canada, Lester B. Pearson, by the City of Montreal at Expo ¹67. He was represented by the Walter Klinkhoff Gallery beginning in 1972, exhibiting there in many solo shows. Le Dain was President of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts from 1991 to 1993. Bruce Le Dain made his residence in Hampstead, Quebec until his death in the spring of 2000. He is survived by his wife, Gertrud need Zenker and their three sons.
Some of the galleries that carry Bruce Le Dain works are:
Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
Galerie Du Bic, Rimouski, Quebec
Zwicker's Gallery, Nova Scotia
For any inquires for purchases of Bruce Le Dain works beyond these galleries, do not hesitate to contact D.G.Coupal, who can refer you to the appropriate representative of the Le Dain estate. Thank you.
"BRUCE LE DAIN COMES ALIVE WHEN HE'S AT HIS EASEL"
by Eric Scullion, Hampstead Journal, January 31, 1985
“I can’t just paint for the sake of painting, says Bruce Le Dain. “I must feel excitement, something special about a place.”
On his art, Le Dain says: “I’m not interested in rhetorical vision. I like to try to express my feeling about a place in simple terms. I can walk past a spot one day and it’ll do nothing for me. Another time, in another light, I’ll feel compelled to paint it. The painter is a fulcrum in a juggling act. He must cultivate a humble spirit before nature and yet have the confidence to bring it off.”
“I would like to convey to people a sense of calm, a feeling of serenity. That, I think, is something that’s needed today. I suppose the landscape artist is saying that we should not feel threatened by the wilderness. We should take joy in it. It is ours in trust to conserve, to preserve.
“But I’ve been disheartened, returning to places that once almost painted themselves, to find them buried under an urban sprawl. Baie St. Paul in Quebec is just such a place. When I first knew it, it was a beautiful village of pure architectural gems. But it has been devastated. Even the hand-painted sign on the Rue Principal that proclaims, 'The Artist’s Paradise', is fading, with an ironic truth, into oblivion.
“I had gone to England (in 1953) because I felt that there might be greater opportunity elsewhere and I wanted to expand and grow in my field. I came back home in 1957 and then got a job at McKim Advertising as an Art and Creative Director." When he turned 40 and had been working for McKim for 10 years, he decided he needed more time to paint.
“I approached my employers and said, ‘I’d like to be away for about six months out of the year.’ So McKim swallowed hard and said, ‘Let me sleep on that one, Bruce, and I’ll get back to you.’ The company came back with a contract that I would say expressed a considerable sort of corporate support.”
The contract allowed Le Dain the six months off, and was to be reviewed in a year’s time. But before the year was up, they said they thought I’d been more productive in six months than in 12, and I ended up having the arrangement last eight years. It was great.”
While he says he feels most alive when painting, Le Dain becomes animated just talking about it. His eyes light up, his posture shifts and he seems to transgress into another world.
If he’s not creating something, he said, he feels he is “shirking whatever modest gift I’ve been given to express how I spend my hours.”
Another part of the juggling act has been handling the mix of “minor successes and failures.” He believes that his growth comes more directly from his failures than from “any apparent success”.
 Magazin'Art article on Bruce Le Dain, 1993, French
Magazin'Art article on Bruce Le Dain, 1993, English Here's an article, both French and English versions from MAGAZIN'ART, on the late Bruce LeDain, PRCA, a great Canadian artist and friend to D.G.Coupal, as mentioned in the Biography and Influences sections of this site. Both versions of the article are worth looking at, since they contain different artworks, all of them brilliant.
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