René Derouin

Les petits fils à Menaud

1967

Woodcut

4/10, C.A. I

80 x 56 cm

Estimated Value : $700

René Derouin (1936, Montreal) lives in Val-David, a municipality in Quebec’s Laurentians region, north of Montreal. For over fifty years, this multidisciplinary artist has pursued his unique body of work, in which notions of identity and territory are situated within a broader perspective of the Americas. Appreciated across several continents, René Derouin’s work has been widely exhibited in Quebec, Canada and abroad, most notably in Mexico, where he has received the highest honours from the Mexican government. In a 1985 interview, Derouin said: “At the Atelier Libre, I was able to benefit from a training environment, from the presence of a group that was forming [...] partly to recapture what I had experienced in Mexico during a stay in an engraving studio. I produced my first etching on Rue Marie-Anne, and it was Pierre Ayot who introduced me to this technique [...]”.

Serge Tousignant

Neuf coins d'atelier

1974

Offset and screen printing

16/60

50 x 65 cm

Estimated Value: $1100

Serge Tousignant (1942, Montreal) is a multidisciplinary artist who played a key role in the development of the Quebec art scene. Graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Montreal in graphic arts, he mastered calligraphy, typography, and graphic design. He then specialized in printmaking with Albert Dumouchel. Interested in the relationship between abstract structures and illusion, he first worked as a painter and sculptor. Later, he incorporated images from the natural world. From the 1960s to the 1970s, he abandoned painting to focus solely on photography. From 1975 to 2005, Tousignant had a career as a professor in the art history department at the University of Montreal. He held numerous exhibitions in Quebec and abroad, and his works are part of major museum collections.

Michel Leclair

Paysage de la cité

1975

screen printing

33/35 C.A.

57 x 73 cm

Estimated Value: $600

Michel Leclair (1948, Montreal) is part of that generation of artists who contributed to the development of artistic creation in Quebec, particularly in printmaking. He is associated with Atelier Graff, of which he was a key member. In the 1970s and 1980s, Graff was recognized as one of the most dynamic places for printmaking creation, research, and dissemination. After studying arts, Leclair first dedicated himself to printmaking before choosing photography as his main means of expression in the 1980s. He also resorts to painting to create works that are neither quite photos nor quite paintings. He is an artist who observes nature - the landscape, the street, the shop window, the human - to reveal his inner landscapes. Michel Leclair created 'Bagels' for the collective album Graff Dinner in 1978. For more information about the artist, we invite you to visit: michel-leclair.com

Indira Nair
Au secours...

1976

Etching

17/25 (C.A. I)

53 x 50 cm

Estimated Value: $450

Indira Nair (1938, Guruvayur - 2018, Val-David) was a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. She studied in Mumbai, at the University of Sorbonne Beaux-Arts in Paris, and at the University of Quebec in Montreal. After settling in Quebec in 1972, Nair completed her master's degree and taught at the University of Quebec in Montreal between 1979 and 1987. During this time, Nair joined the team at Atelier Graff for the creation of Graff Dinner in 1978, a collective album of 27 prints created by 27 artists. Her art reveals a symbolic and spiritual world that reflects her childhood universe. Her works are now found in private and public institutions in Quebec and Paris. She also has several integration projects into architecture, notably for the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Saint-Jérôme, the elementary school in Terrebonne, and the Le Gardeur Hospital in Repentigny.

Éditions Graff

Graff Dinner 

1978
Artists’ book featuring various techniques

27 prints by Claude Arseneault, Pierre Ayot, Louis-Pierre Bougie, Francine Beauvais, Hélène Blouin, Renée Chevalier, Carl Daoust, Lorraine Dagenais, Benoît Desjardins, Madeleine Forcier, Denis Forcier, Michel Fortier, Paule Girard, Christian Lepage, Nancy Lambert, Michel Leclair, Serge Lemoyne, Odile Loulou, Jacques Lafond, Andres Manniste, Indira Nair, Louis Pelletier, Hannelore Storm, Pierre Léon Tétreault, Bé Van der Heide, Christiane Valcourt et Robert Wolfe.
C.A. 2/10
23 x 23 x 4 cm

Estimated Value: $700

In 1978, Graff launched a creative and humorous project that brought together twenty-seven members of his studio to create an artist’s book that reimagined the traditional cookbook. Each artist created an original print that reflected both their unique artistic practice and a recipe. Once complete, these twenty-seven recipes were then carefully arranged in a case designed by Pierre Ouvrard, giving rise to Graff Dinner. Accompagnant Graff Dinner,a grand banquet was organised where each artist prepared their own recipe to share, creating a most eccentric feast. This publishing project is the third of its kind following Pilulorum (1968) and the Graffofones (1973), marking a significant chapter in the history of the Atelier Graff. Graff Dinner thus brings together all the printing techniques practised at the Atelier Graff and also illustrates the Quebec trend and tradition of the artist’s book during the 1970s.

Jacques Hurtubise

Tamakinac

1979

Silkscreen print

E.A., 4/5

67 x 65 cm

Estimated Value: $2000

Quebec painter Jacques Hurtubise (1939, Cape Breton – 2014, Cape Breton) graduated from the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in 1960, where he was influenced by the Montreal Plasticiens group. The following year, he was awarded the Max Beckmann scholarship to study in New York, where he discovered Abstract Expressionism. Almost a decade later, he returned to Montreal and met Claude Tousignant and Guido Molinari. The numerous awards honouring his work (the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts in 1993 and the Paul-Émile Borduas Award in 2000), as well as his many exhibitions in major museums (the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1961 and 1998, the Musée du Québec in 1972 and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in 1973 and 1981) have earned him undisputed recognition within the Quebec art world today. His work can be found in the collections of major cities around the world, such as Paris, London and São Paulo in Brazil. In 1983, Hurtubise settled permanently in Nova Scotia, where he lived until his death in 2014.

Andrès Manniste

Untitled

1979

Silkscreen print

C.A.

76 x 56 cm

Estimated value: $500

Andrès Manniste (born 1951 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) is a painter, printmaker and media artist. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba (1974) and a Master of Visual Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal (1979). His work has been featured in various solo and group exhibitions. His exhibition Una cartolina per pace was shown in several art centres in Italy in 2000. He was invited to participate in the first Tehran International Biennial, a travelling multimedia art exhibition presented in Istanbul, Berlin and Belgrade. In 2006, Manniste received the Drunken Boat Pan Literary Awards for Web art in New York. Andrès Manniste is represented by the Joyce Yahouda Gallery.

Cozic

Traces et pliage I

1980

Silkscreen, collage and folding

5/35, C.A. I/II

Estimated Value: $1,500

Cozic is an artists’ collective formed by Yvon Cozic (1942, France – 2025, Montreal) and Monic Brassard (1944, Nicolet). With over 50 years of artistic practice behind them, the duo has more than 300 exhibitions to their credit, as well as some thirty works of public art. The duo is driven by a tangible exploration of the use of unusual materials. The gathering, accumulation and amalgamation of found objects infuse a new semantics, a fresh meaning into the visual language.& Recipients of numerous awards and grants, including the prestigious 2012 Jean-Paul-Riopelle Career Grants, the 2015 Paul-Émile Borduas Prize and the 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. Cozic’s work is held in most major Canadian museums, as well as in corporate and private collections in Canada and Europe. The Graff Gallery in Montreal has represented and supported Cozic for over thirty-five years.

For further information on the artist, please visit: cozic.ca

Luc Béland

Non! (d'après M. Darwin)

1983

Silkscreen print

56 x 76 cm

Estimated Value: $700

Luc Béland (1951, Québec – 2006, Québec) was a Québec-based printmaker, painter and video artist. In Canada, he took part in over 65 exhibitions; he also exhibited in the United States, France, Switzerland and Germany. He was a leading figure on the Montreal and Quebec visual arts scene for 35 years. Béland obtained a diploma in fine arts from the École normale de Ville-Marie (1971) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts, specialising in printmaking, from UQAM (1973). He also undertook a specialisation course in photogravure and photolithography at the Pratt Institute Printmaking Department in New York (1973). Between 1983 and 2001, he exhibited his work eight times at the Graff Gallery in Montreal. Among his most significant achievements are the exhibition Luc Béland: études 1976 at the Musée des arts contemporains de Montréal, as well as 14 group exhibitions at the same museum. His works can be found in major national collections, including those of the Canada Council for the Arts and the University of Sherbrooke.

Daniel Sylvestre

Babel

1986

Sérigraphie

C.A. I/II

76,5 x 57 cm

Valeur Estimée : $500

Daniel Sylvestre pratique la lithographie sur pierre, l'illustration, la rédaction et la peinture. L'artiste se démarque en tant qu'imprimeur lors de sa participation à la Biennale de l’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières. Il fait de nombreuses expositions collectives et individuelles. Il remporte le Prix du Gouverneur général du Canada pour le recueil de poésie Rose, derrière le rideau de la folie en 2010. En 2018, Sylvestre partage son art dans sa première exposition solo, Lithographe par plaisir, à l'Atelier circulaire où il réalise ses œuvres depuis plus de vingt ans. Il a aussi un blog de textes courts et d’illustrations appelé Carnets Libres.

Carlos Calado

Monument en ruines

1986

Lithograph

C.A. I/II

76 x 57 cm

Estimated Value: $700

Early in his career, Carlos Calado (born 1946 in Angola) worked as a sculptor and teacher in Portugal. It was not until the 1980s that he turned his attention to printmaking. Over the following years, Calado visited Quebec on numerous occasions. When he discovered Atelier Graff, he decided to settle there permanently. At Graff, Calado found a unique place to learn and create his works. He also found a warm and welcoming family there. Calado worked at Graff for four decades, during which time he experimented with printmaking and the ways in which the technique could be developed. In 2003, he became coordinator of the lithography workshop at Atelier Circulaire, and subsequently took on responsibility for relief techniques and photographic processes involving the use of the darkroom, such as photogravure and photolithography. A master of various techniques, he is regarded by his peers as a guardian and transmitter of lithographic expertise. Calado has been sharing his knowledge of printmaking as a teacher and trainer for the past sixty years in several workshops across Quebec, including L'imprimerie.

General Idea

Phoenix with a P

1986

Silkscreen print

C.A. I

89 x 58.5 cm

Estimated Value: $3,500

General Idea is an art collective comprising three Canadians: Ronald Gabe, also known as Felix Partz (1945, Winnipeg–1994, Toronto), Slobodan Saia-Levy, also known as Jorge Zontal (1944, Italy–1994, Toronto) and Michael Tims, alias AA Bronson (1946, Vancouver), active from 1967 to 1994 and dividing their time between Toronto and New York. Pioneers of conceptual art and media art, their work is often presented in unconventional forms such as postcards, prints, posters, wallpaper, balloons and pins, in a provocative style. The collective’s demise was sealed when two of its members died of AIDS in 1994. Bronson continued as an independent artist in Toronto and Berlin, often collaborating with younger generations, as recently seen in his performance series Invocation of the Queer Spirits. In 2011, he was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres on behalf of General Idea by François Mitterrand, then French Minister of Culture. The General Idea archives are held at the library of the National Gallery of Canada. The museum is staging a retrospective of the collective in 2022.

For more information about the artist, please visit: www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/general-idea

Mirella Aprahamian

Là-haut sur la colline

1988
pastel, silkscreen

1/1 monotype

66 x 50 cm

Estimated Value: $400

Mirella Aprahamian (born 1939 in Beirut) first developed her passion for the arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA). Aprahamian travelled the world and studied at numerous art institutions, including the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, Switzerland, the Metropolitan University of London, and the Pratt Graphic Art Center studio and gallery in New York. Then, in 1984, Aprahamian settled permanently in Montreal to continue her professional training in the arts through numerous internships and workshops, mainly at Graff. At Graff, Aprahamian undertook internships with Luc Guérin and Peter Daglish in the 1990s and became a member in 2014. Mirella Aprahamian has held several exhibitions in Canada and abroad, and her works are included in numerous museum and institutional collections, notably the Museum of Lodz in Poland, the San Lazzaro Museum in Venice, the National Library of Canada and the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec.

Françoise Lavoie

Hôtel III

1988

Intaglio, drypoint, sugar lift

C.A. II/II

76 x 56 cm

Estimated Value: $550

Françoise Lavoie (born 1954 in Rimouski) began her artistic career in 1979. She specialises in printmaking. Having completed a Master of Arts at the Université du Québec à Montréal, she creates narrative series. Her works illustrate the relationship between nature and human wanderings. She creates artist’s books that explore the human psyche, notably Le Réticule tue (1986), L'Hôtel (1988) and Cinéma Intérieur (2019–2024). These works showcase her hybrid approach and demonstrate the formation of an interconnected narrative network. In addition to her artist’s books, Lavoie creates installations that bridge the gap between printmaking and digital imagery. She exhibits her work in Quebec and internationally. She has received several grants and her works are held in numerous private and public collections. She also undertakes architectural integration projects, teaches at UQÀM, gives lectures and serves on juries.

For further information about the artist, please visit: francoiselavoie.com

Odile Loulou

Alléatoire ! nature morte

1988

Silkscreen print enhanced with paper colours

C.A. 1/2

56 x 38 cm

Estimated Value: $400

Odile Loulou (born 1941 in Lyon) is a painter from a family of artists spanning several generations. She moved to Quebec in the early 1970s. She studied fine art at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (EBAMA), followed by art history at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). She also obtained a diploma from the University of California’s art studio. Her involvement with the Graff studio enabled her to contribute to various collective projects, notably Graff Dinner in 1978, an artist’s book for which she created Makoud. Her works have been exhibited in various cities across Quebec, Canada, the United States, France, Spain and other countries. She has held around twenty solo exhibitions, notably Les Carnets de Voyages de l'Inde du Nord at the Maison de la Culture Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal and Perched on a Tree at the Château de St Bonnet-le-Mure in the Dauphiné region, France. Loulou has taken part in numerous group exhibitions: Mini Impression Internacional de Cadaqués in Spain, exhibitions by the Graff workshops, Les Femmeuses, Boston-Montreal, Les impatients, TRAM, Women's Art Society of Montreal, as well as several others in the United States, Japan and France.

Heather Thomas

Green Sea

1988

Screen print, paper

50 x 65 cm

Estimated Value: $300

Heather Thomas, originally from Nova Scotia, now lives in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. She is trained in printmaking and produces screen prints as well as relief prints. Her art also extends to the creation of three-dimensional works.

 Her art addresses themes of social justice. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Fine Arts from the Donau University’s Transart Institute in Berlin. Between 1987 and 1988, she worked at the Graff studio producing silkscreen prints. In 1993, with the help of Pierre Ayot, she organised an exhibition of Graff prints in Vancouver. Her solo exhibitions include "In the Presence of Absence" (2013, Comox Valley Art Gallery), "Mute Traces" (2010, The Point Gallery, Salt Spring Island), "Wounded" (2008, Kelowna Art Gallery), "The Physics of Power" (2007, Nanaimo Art Gallery) et "Saturate" (1999, Open Studio, Toronto).

Claude Fortaich

Rouge #4

1990

Screen printing

76 x 57 cm

Estimated Value: $400

A member of the Atelier Graff from 1984 to 2020, the artist Claude Fortaich (1958) is best known for his work as a printer. He served as a technical and artistic advisor, first at Graff and later at L'imprimerie, centre d'artistes. An expert in screen printing, he shared his knowledge and expertise for many years. Numerous artists in Montreal and Quebec have benefited from his talent in producing their print proofs. His personal work has been exhibited many times at the Galerie Graff. L'imprimerie’s art collection includes a large number of works by Fortaich, who was committed to the practice of depositing studio proofs.

Yves Boucher

Traces d’âmes
1994
Engraved wood, etching, screen print

C.A. I/II

Estimated Value: $1,800

Yves Boucher  (1964, Ville-Marie) finds his artistic expression through the medium of printmaking. As a young apprentice, Boucher proved himself a virtuoso of composition. Recipient of the Albert-Dumouchel Prize upon completing his Bachelor of Visual Arts at UQAM (1994), he was invited that same year to the Baie-Saint-Paul International Symposium of Contemporary Art. He taught drawing at the National Theatre School before taking up the post of art teacher at the Cégep de Sherbrooke. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1265/67–1321) features in Boucher’s works at two distinct stages of his artistic career; from 1990 to 1995 (The Circle of Hell) and from 2016 to the present (Le Paradis). Dante’s epic poem inspired Boucher to refine his printing methods. He increased the number of passes through the press to capture this poetic richness. Each copy requires a faithful reproduction of this complexity, which limits the number of works produced. His creations are held in the collections of the Musée des beaux-arts de Québec, Loto-Québec, the Musée d'art de Baie-Saint-Paul and the Canada Council Art Bank.

Betty Goodwin

sans-titre

1996

Linocut on Japanese paper

30 x 37 cm

Estimated Value: $1,200

Largely self-taught, Betty Goodwin (1923, Montreal – 2008, Montreal) received considerable support from Montreal’s Jewish community during her childhood, which encouraged her to persevere in her art. After finishing secondary school, Betty Goodwin enrolled at the Valentine’s Commercial School of Art in Montreal. She began her career largely as a self-taught artist, then, in 1968, Goodwin enrolled in the printmaking course taught by the artist Yves Gaucher (1934–2000) at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia). It was during this training that she discovered engraving and etching, which became the techniques most representative of her career. Between 1972 and 2003, Goodwin received numerous honours and was awarded seven major prizes for her art. Today, Betty Goodwin is regarded as one of the leading figures in contemporary Canadian art.

Julianna Joos

Trio

1999

Screen printing

C.A. I/II

Estimated Value: $250

Julianna Joos (b. 1954, Québec) is a Montreal-based artist with over 40 years’ experience in printmaking, particularly in etching, woodcut and digital printing, having held more than twenty solo exhibitions and participated in over 200 group exhibitions. In 2012, she exhibited her work at the Centre national d’exposition in Jonquière, in 2013 at the Galerie du Rift in Témiscamingue and in 2014 at the Galerie du Parc in Trois-Rivières. Her work has won awards at two international print biennials: the Acquisition Prize at the 5th Premio Acqui (Italy, 2005) and First Prize at the Voir Grand international exhibition (Montréal, 2002). She holds a Master of Arts in Creative Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal and served as coordinator at the Atelier Graff from 1989 to 1998. She has been teaching in the Department of Visual Arts at Dawson College since 1998.