{"product_id":"louis-de-niverville-pentimenti-9781773272702","title":"Louis de Niverville: Pentimenti","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePUBLISHERS WEEKLY NOTABLE BOOK, FALL 2025\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLouis de Niverville (1933-2019) was a painter and collagist. His experimental and thought-provoking art, often mislabelled as \"surrealist,\" defied simple categorization.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe ninth of thirteen children, young Louis was sent to a sanatorium in Ottawa for treatment of spinal tuberculosis at age six. He remained there for four and a half years. This long-term confinement would become a major influence on his art. Hired as an illustrator by the CBC in the late 1950s, de Niverville quickly immersed himself in the burgeoning Toronto art scene. His work relied heavily on his dreams and daydreams, and explored aspects of the individual, culture and nature, and often featured surreal \"inside-outside\" spaces. At a time when Abstract Expressionism and its offshoots were dominant in the international art world, Louis's early exhibitions in Toronto quickly seized the attention of respected art critics, and de Niverville was flagged as an artist to watch. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis reputation plus a number of private commissions, including large-scale murals for Pearson International Airport and Spadina subway station, both in Toronto, helped thrust de Niverville to the forefront of the Toronto scene in the 1960s and 1970s. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEdited by Thomas Miller--de Niverville's partner of many decades and an artist in his own right--and international art dealer Philip Ottenbrite, \u003ci\u003eLouis de Niverville: Pentimenti \u003c\/i\u003eincludes texts from renowned art critics and curators Tobi Bruce, Ihor Holubizky, and E.C. Woodley, which trace de Niverville's rise in the Toronto scene, and which also provide critical art historical context to the depth and breadth of his unique practice. Heather Bell's biographical piece on de Niverville's childhood illuminates a practice seemingly born of childhood trauma and whimsy. Featuring more than 140 art reproductions and archival images, this is an in-depth examination of an artist who, in his unique portrayals of the individual, encouraged the exploration of the universal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWoodley, E. C.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eE.C. Woodley\u003c\/b\u003e is a critic, curator, and artist who lives in Toronto. He has been a regular contributor to \u003ci\u003eArt in America\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVie des Arts, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eCanadian Art\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBorder Crossings\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMomus\u003c\/i\u003e. As a curator his exhibitions include \u003ci\u003eFernand Leduc\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMicrochromies 1970-1999\u003c\/i\u003e, Olga Korper Gallery; \u003ci\u003eSoul of a Shoe: Three Generations of Painting\u003c\/i\u003e, Wynick\/Tuck Gallery; \u003ci\u003eThe Last Things Before the Last\u003c\/i\u003e, McMaster Museum of Art; \u003ci\u003eLeopold Plotek: No Work, Nor Device, Nor Knowledge, Nor Wisdom\u003c\/i\u003e, Koffler Gallery, and \u003ci\u003eHoward Podeswa: Dèpaysement Studio\u003c\/i\u003e, Birch Contemporary. As an artist his site-specific work includes: \u003ci\u003eAugustrasse 25\u003c\/i\u003e for the Koffler Gallery at the Kiever Synagogue in Toronto; \u003ci\u003eTales from an Empty Cabin at The Tree Museum\u003c\/i\u003e, Gravenhurst; and \u003ci\u003e10h-20h\u003c\/i\u003e, in collaboration with Laura Belém at the Palácio do Comércio de Maceió, Brazil, as part of the Premio CNI SESI Marcantonio Vilaca para as Artes Plásticas.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHolubizky, Ihor:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eIhor Holubizky \u003c\/b\u003eis an art historian and senior curator based in Canada and has been a Trustee of the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation since 2009. He has held several public gallery curatorial positions, including curator at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, from 1979 to 1988 and the Art Gallery of Hamilton from 1989 to 1997. He has been a guest curator for retrospective exhibitions of Don Jean-Louis, Walter Tandy Murch, and Kazuo Nakamura at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. In Australia he was a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and the Art Museum at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. He was awarded a senior Canada Council grant for independent curators in 1998, and an Australia Council grant in 2004 for a research residency at the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura \u0026amp; Hayama, in Japan.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBruce, Tobi:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eTobi Bruce\u003c\/b\u003e is Head of Exhibitions and Collections, and Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. With over thirty years' experience, Tobi has curated over 75 exhibitions, lectured and published extensively, and participated as a panelist at conferences nationally and internationally. Notable exhibitions and publications include \u003ci\u003eTom Thomson? The Art of Authentication\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Artist Herself: Self-Portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eInto the Light: The Paintings of William Blair Bruce\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe French Connection: Canadian Painters at the Paris Salons\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWilliam Kurelek: The Messenger\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEt al...\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Figure 1 Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51764052525330,"sku":"9781773272702","price":35.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fb6e02da-968f-478a-be00-7eed207a0043.jpg?v=1764751416","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/louis-de-niverville-pentimenti-9781773272702","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}