François Desharnais

François Desharnais was born in Arthabaska, Quebec, Canada in 1966. In 1978, his father, who had no knowledge of the arts, brought him to an old painter in Victoriaville to have his opinion on the few canvases painted by his boy. Encouraged, his parents agreed that an academic training would be adequate. François accompanies his mother to St Petersburg to take painting lessons there during the following summers. The school was taught classically, and he became familiar with the Renoir, Van Gogh and Monet by copying their painting.
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“I had a starting idea for each of the paintings, but none resisted the act of creation. More often than not, the characters and shapes disappeared as I painted while others came out in favor of a more sincere composition, a new balance and, by necessity, to for a new theme. I approach figuration like the Automatists who advocated an intuitive approach, but for me, it is representative."

“I first looked at the idea of painting the life of a painter with his daily activities and relationships, knowing all the same that the painting is free to become what it is. When painting the first painting titled The Critics, the idea of the painting in the painting came into being. This type of composition is therefore recurrent in the series. ”