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 Louis Belzile b.1929
In 1955, Belzile was a founding member of the “Plasticiens”, along with Jauran (Rodolphe de Repentigny), Jean-Paul Jérôme and Fernand Toupin. They lauched their “Manifeste des Plasticiens” and held their first exhibition in February. The following year, he was a founding member of the Association des Artistes Non-Figuartifs de Montréal along with Fernand Leduc, Fernand Toupin and Jauran, and exhibited with them that same year. In 1957, he exhibited again with the AANFM at École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal along with Guido Molinari, Fernand Toupin, Claude Tousignant, Jean Goguen, Fernand Leduc and Denis Juneau. In 1958, he participated at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and had a solo show at the Centre d’Art de Rimouski. It was also that year that he obtained his Bachelors degree in Arts from Université de Montréal. He later returned to further his studies at École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in 1960-1961. During this period, when he wasn’t working on his art, Belzile made his living by giving art lessons. In the summer he taught in Trois-Pistoles and during the rest of the year he worked at Saint Joseph Teacher’s College in Montreal, where he taught until 1965. In the years leading to his departure from the college, he kept participating in various group shows, notably the Winnipeg Show in 1962, the Festival des Deux-Mondes, at Spolete, Italy in 1962 and at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1963. He also held many solo shows at Galerie Libre in Montreal starting in 1960. In 1965, Belzile moved to Quebec City and became the head of department of the Fine Arts Programme at the Ministry of Education. That same year, he exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and at the Artistes de Montréal exhibition held at the National Gallery of Canada. In 1966, he won a prize at the Concours Artistique du Gouvernement du Québec and the next year, he was part of the Panorama de la Peinture (1940-1966) exhibition at the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal. He stayed at the Ministry until 1971, after which the Canadian International Development Agency posted him at the National Department of Education of the Ivory Coast until 1974. When he came back to Canada, he was transferred to Montreal where he was responsible for televised teaching programmes. It was at this time that educational programmes such as “Passe-Partout” were produced under his direction. During his work with the Ministry, Belzile kept painting and renewing his style, while exhibiting his works on a regular basis in various solo and group shows. He retired from his public service career in 1985 and devoted himself entirely to his painting. Since his retirement, he participated in exhibitions held at the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, the National Gallery of Canada and the Musée du Bas Saint-Laurent. In 1990, a solo show was held at the Musée Marc-Aurèle Fortin in Montreal and in 1996, a retrospective show took place at Musée du Bas Saint-Laurent in Rivière-du-Loup.
Collections: - National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Affiliations : - Plasticiens (1955)
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