Portraits
Capturing the model's essence
In 1888, Ozias Leduc paints his first portraits. He uses as models members of his family and his school teacher, Jean-Baptiste-Nectaire Galipeau. These paintings hint at the artist's personal life.
By his meticulous and precise way of painting details, Leduc seeks to preserve on canvas the very character of his model. He regularly uses photography, not only to spare his models long and tiresome poses, but also to keep visual references. Beyond the physical resemblance, he seeks to create a portrait of his subject's character.
This was undoubtedly the case for the portrait of his schoolmaster, Jean-Baptiste-Nectaire Galipeau, made from a photograph. Strikingly realist, it captures as much the details of his facial expression as those of his clothing. In this work, Leduc shows us a respectable man. The background and clothing, of sober colors, draw the viewer's attention to the face and its expression.
Galipeau recognizes the talent of his student and encourages him to persevere. It was probably to thank him that, a few years later, Leduc offers him this portrait.
Although most of Leduc’s portraits represent people close to him, some of these are commissions. Maurice Gagnon in Arts Canada describes Ozias Leduc's portraits :
Leduc seeks a level of resemblance that seems "necessary" to him, but what he wants to capture above all is the model's way of being; avoiding the usual snapshot effect. His portraits, made in such a way as to emphasize the model's psychological character, are based on his aesthetic approach to still lifes. He transcends his subject by giving him dignity. - Maurice Gagnon
A tribute to his father
In this painting, Leduc represents his father as the apple grower he was, holding a basket filled with fruit. The artist recognizes the importance of hard work both in art and manual labour.