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Canadian Grand Master, painter, caricaturist, figurative painter, Normand Hudon was born in Montreal in 1929 (died in 1997). He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Montreal and L’Académie Montmartre in Paris. His works of great wealth by his sober and contrasting colours are often distinguished by his colourful characters in everyday life (children, judges, sisters …) and scenes from the countryside, popular and urban areas (village, manor , houses, church, street, convenience store with or without people …) that allow us a moment to dream of the past.
“With his caricatures, Normand Hudon knew fame and stardom early in television in the 1950s. Seasoned designer, charismatic draftman, full of spirit, he often makes people laugh and smile a public always numerous and appreciative before his prowess.
His painting stood out in the late 1970s. Strongly inspired by his world of caricature, his pictorial work draws from the world of his childhood and the people who were able to laugh at in some ways … The clergy, lawyers, judges, politicians have been his favorite targets.
Each of his paintings was an amused glance and fun around the foibles sometimes powerful, sometimes the little people. This perhaps explains why today the interest in his work remains as vivid. ” Robert Bernier
Quebec artist painter, works by Normand Hudon are part of many public and private collections in Quebec, Canada and abroad.
In the pictorial sense of the term, one can wonder if Normand Hudon is a painter. Certainly, painting occupied an important part of his life, and his production is relatively abundant. However, his style, like the craftsmanship that characterizes him, is more a caricature than a painting. The always omnipresent line, the very sharp drawing and the illustrative dimension of his work are enough for the question to be raised. The answer, however, may be evasive. Of course, Normand Hudon’s pictorial approach is undeniably associated with the profession – the caricature – which made him famous throughout Quebec. A familiar figure on the small screen for two decades, Hudon, with his naughty gaze and his fair, sometimes incisive line, quickly carved out a place for himself as a columnist for current affairs.
Gradually, the painting took over and, over the years, keeping the spirit of caricature, his paintings became objects of lust for a large number of collectors. This enthusiasm is even more marked since his death in 1997. So, is Hudon a painter? Certainly, but in the way that has always suited him: in a non-conformist way. Normand Hudon has often been compared to the famous French cartoonist Honoré Daumier, in particular by certain themes which are common to them, notably the judiciary. Both have this alertness, that scathing and just look that knows how to amuse their respective audiences. However, at the end of his life, when Daumier abandoned caricature in favor of painting, his style and his approach radically contrasted with drawing. This is not the case for Normand Hudon, who rather adapts his drawing to his painting. If he puts aside political and topical satire, he retains, beyond the humor that characterizes him, an essentially social vision. In fact, his painting is best known for his delightful satires of the ecclesiastical world and the legal world.
A popular artist in every sense of the term, Normand Hudon occupies a special place in the world of Quebec painting, which should not displease him, since he ranks among the unclassifiable: painter, caricaturist, illustrator, columnist, he remained all this at once, for the greatest pleasure of many amateurs.
Source : Robert Bernier, La peinture au Québec depuis les années 1960, Les Éditions de l’Homme, 2002, Hudon Normand Hudon (1929-1997), pages 300-301.