LEFEBURE, Jean (1930-2013)

Jean LeFebure (Jean Lefebvre) joined the Automatiste group following a year of studies in architecture at the Université de Montréal. After helping organize and taking part in the exhibitions Les Rebelles (1950) and Les étapes du vivants (1951), he left for Paris where he became a bookseller (1953-1965). He continued to paint and exhibited throughout Europe during this time while also becoming associated with the Centre de recherche nucléaire de Saclay as a colour advisor. In 1965, he returned to Quebec and was hired at the School of Architecture at Université Laval in Quebec City; he later taught painting and colour at Montreal’s Cégep Saint-Laurent until retiring in 1990. Although known primarily as a painter, he participated in the exhibition Sculpture 67 with Signe solaire, a monumental work made from materials that were new at the time: fibreglass, epoxy resin and bronze filings. Located on Île Sainte-Hélène, the sculpture was bought by the City of Montreal in 1970 and restored in 2004. LeFebure also created the towering doors of the Percé courthouse in Gaspésie.