André Bertounesque is a Quebec painter of French birth, born May 11th 1937 in Sainte-Livrade (Lot-et-Garonne). He died on September 21st 2005 in Laval, Quebec.
Already passionate about art, André Bertounesque arrives in Quebec in 1951 where he will hold a variety of jobs all the while cultivating his passion for oil painting. A self-taught artist, Bertounesque sets up a makeshift studio in the back of his hairdressing salon where he spends his downtime painting.
That is where he starts his career as a painter. Bertounesque begins selling his paintings to his customers who are rightfully impressed by the talent this sensitive, unassuming man. He is quickly recognized for his mastery of light and the soft and intimate scenes he depicts. The richness of his oil paintings quickly allows him a recognition that will not falter all through his prolific career and beyond.
Bertounesque loved women and his work from the 1970s and 1980s shows it through portraits, nudes, seascapes and scenes of introspective peace and quiet that show the man’s inner tranquility.
He also was a proud emissary of his native land’s southern countryside. Provence, its light and its colours became his favourite subject taking the spectator to a soft, luminous universe.
André Bertounesque’s work is now a part of Quebec’s artistic heritage and is present in major galleries and collections all over the world.