La Martine | Bruno Cote
La Martine, 1985
Oil on Masonite
Painting size: 16 X 20 inches. Framed size: approx. 24 X 28 inches.
Details: Signed & dated lower right. Signed & titled on verso.
Condition: Excellent.
Provenance: Private Collection, Alberta.
Price: $3,600
Additional photos and information available upon request.
Le Plateau | Bruno Cote
Oil on Masonite
Size: 20 x 24 inches
Price: SOLD
Details: Oil painting 1982. Signed lower left. Signed and titled verso. Framed size: 28 X 31.5 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, Quebec; featured in 1982 Bruno Cote book.
Additional Information and Photos Available Upon Request
Bruno Cote became a master of the Quebec style of landscape
painting, using broad strokes and vibrant, surprising colours
Biography
Bruno Côté was born in Quebec City, and from an early age developed an appreciation of the outdoors and landscapes of his home province.
However, Bruno Côté didn’t turn to painting full time until in the 1970s, holding his first solo show in 1978 Baie-Saint-Paul where he settled with his family.
Prior to taking up the paint brush, Bruno Côté joined his father’s business, a publicity firm that specialized in lettering.
Starting at age 17, the future artist learned the business, doing lettering, drawing billboards and experimenting with colour, and working his way up to become the firm’s artistic director.
Bruno Côté is known to have made over 6,000 sketches, sketches he would later look back on and use for ideas when he did take up painting.
Painted Across Canada
When he turned to painting, Bruno Côté did it with gusto. Not only did he paint close to home in Charlevoix County, Quebec, he travelled to western Canada to paint in the Rockies. He later travelled across Canada, coast to coast, from Vancouver to Newfoundland, seeking out new scenes.
He was known to arrive early in the morning at a spot to catch the effects of the rising sun on his landscapes. At other times, he would wait until the sun was falling from the sky to capture the effect the disappearing light had.
Like other Quebec painters before and since, Bruno Côté wasn’t afraid of using colour, often quite surprising ones. In many paintings, it appears he deliberately tries to surprise the viewer, bathing a landscape scene in purples, golds, blues, reds and any other strong colour his imagination could conjure. Bruno Côté used the entire colour wheel.
Landscape Painter
Some of his works are pure landscapes, pure colour experiments. Other scenes show signs of human life: shacks, cottages, small villages. Some of Bruno Côté’s best paintings are panoramic, starting with a view down a hill to a lake, with mountains looming up past the water, topped by a swirling sky.
Bruno Côté was considered one of Canada’s finest landscape painters prior to his death in 2010. His paintings continue to be sought after by art collectors, who recognize Bruno Côté has followed in the footsteps of the Group of Seven and others who have sought to bring the natural world to life in paint.
Starting in 1978, Bruno Côté had exhibits of his paintings almost every year over 30 years until late in his life. His work is held by dozens of corporations here and abroad, as well as by many private collectors.
The painter’s official website features more than 250 of his paintings and numerous sketches for viewing.
Source: A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker. National Gallery of Canada, Artists in Canada database.
Suggested viewing: Bruno Côté Official Website
