MICHAEL FRENCH

M ichael French is an internationally recognized artist. For over forty years he has exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Paris and San Miguel de Allende. Born in 1951, Michael moved in 1956 to England where he started school. His father Dr. Barry French, a professor, and recipient of the order of Canada and his mother Gloria French, a teacher, traveled extensively throughout Europe with Michael which had an influence on his painting subjects in the years to come.
In 1972 Michael met the great American realist Andrew Wyeth in South Cushing Maine. Mr. Wyeth was kind and supportive while giving Michael valuable advice regarding the art world and painting techniques. Wyeth was a tremendous influence in French’s earlier work. Out of appreciation for the late Mr. Wyeth’s help, Michael always stayed in touch sending him invitations , catalogues and pamphlets to let Mr. Wyeth know of the major events taking place in Michael’s life.
Michael paints images from his memory or more recently often from photographs, which are naturally peaceful scenes that sometimes contain people. His paintings often reflect an influence of the great early 20th century European surrealists, such as Magritte. Probably the most important aspect of his paintings is the extreme light which sometimes borders on the surreal.
Landscapes and portraits by Michael French figure prominently in the finest public and private collections around the world including world leaders such as HRH. Prince Charles, President George Bush senior, who gave the commissioned portrait of him painted by Michael to his Presidential Library and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. In 1995 the Forbes family in New York started collecting Michael´s work which led to a long relationship with the Forbes where by Christopher Forbes essentially became Michael’s patron in New York and to date the Forbes have acquired fifteen paintings. Christopher Forbes presented one of Michael’s paintings to HRH. Prince of Wales. Michael has had a total of thirty eight group exhibitions and twenty six solo exhibitions including his last retrospective exhibition in the Forbes Magazine galleries-museum on Fifth Avenue in New York in 2008 and his last exhibition at the Kinsman Robinson Gallery in Toronto on 2009 . For 42 years Michael has been having exhibitions since his first show in 1968 .

Definition

Michael’s paintings fall under the general category of realism, often incorporating elements of surrealism in harmony, balance, design, color and sometimes his work borders on hyperrealism, closer to the European hyperrealism than American style photo realism.

MICHAEL'S TECHNIQUE

Michael’s paintings are always from images he has seen in real life and then he either draws only the most important elements right out of memory or does so later from a photograph. By eliminating all of the extraneous or unimportant, cluttering objects in a composition and creating the composition in a harmonious balanced way Michael’s work often feels or looks quite calm and the environment perfect or pristine. Working from a photograph or the reality is virtually the same except that a photograph freezes the changing conditions such as light or flowers wilting, etc. and this allows Michael to study the image for much longer period of time especially with highly detailed subjects or in the execution of a portrait by example. In Michael’s more recent hyper realistic paintings this advantage is very important. It is also very true that much of the art process if using photographs is in the original capture of the image. Still, working from memory, a photograph or reality, what is really essential is the composition, incorporating balance , negative and positive, color balance and the design, the lighting and textures all of which have to reflect the image Michael has in his head.

Michael painted on acid free art board panels for approximately the first twenty years of his career. He , then painted on sanded acrylic panels for almost another twenty years. In the last few years Michael has got back to painting on acid free art board panels that he specially constructs. The image from the photograph or from his mind is usually transferred by pencil to the art panel . Some artists like Vermeer used lenses to accomplish this and in modern times artists use various techniques by example projection, tracing, using a grid or cutting up photos for scale and many other tricks of the trade. The next stage in his painting process is the under painting, which is done totally by airbrush of the sky and water by example and always in acrylic. Airbrush is essentially a very fine spray . The reason why the under painting is not normally done in oil is because layers of oil over many years tend to crack but if only the over painting is done in oil or glazes there is little risk of eventual cracking. Michael has occasionally done the total under painting in black to white in oil and then glazed in the color only as was the technique used by the Flemish masters but normally he under paints in acrylic which is a far more stable medium and far more suitable for airbrush under painting.
The next stage in the painting, is the over painting which is the majority of the painting (probably 80% to 90%) is accomplished by brush, usually in oil paint. However things like waves or blades of grass tend to be painted in acrylic because they are done in roughly straight lines with no blending. Oil paint tends to be richer and less limiting in color selection than acrylic so the majority of over painting and glazing (very thin paint) is done in oil.
Michael has his art panels constructed out of art board made with 100% acid free, rag cotton, archival thick paper (sometimes with a texture) which is also opaque white and when painted on Michael can achieve the luminosity often apparent in his work using thin glazes for color. The paintings are then varnished many times with thin coats of museum quality synthetic varnish (that will not yellow, crack or bloom like natural resin dammar varnish) and the paintings are usually framed in real 23 ½ carat gold.

CORPORATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

· George Bush Presidential Library
· Forbes Magazine, Collection in New York,
. California, Highlander Yacht
· Bank of Nova Scotia
· Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
· CIT
· AGF Management
· RBC Dominion Securities
· Davies, Ward, Phillips and Vineberg
· Gordon Securities
· Heenan and Blakie
· YMG Capital Management
· Hiram Walker
· Lloyds Bank
· Great West Life London Life
· McCarthy, Thetrault
· Borealis
· Royal Trust Company
· CAE Industries
· Royal Bank
· Xerox
· Manulife-John Hancock Financial
· SNC Lavalin
. Connor Clark
. Royal Bank of Canada
. James Richardson and Sons.

SOME PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
Hon. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Hon. Frank Moores, estate
Hon. John Aird, estate
Hon. Barney Danson
Hon. Don Jamieson, estate
Anne Murray, Singer Performer
Christopher and Astrid Forbes
Craig Dobbin estate, Canadian Helicopter Corporation
David Sobey, Sobey´s store
Douglas Mackay Former, RBC Dominion Securities
Fraser Fell Former, RBC Dominion Securities
Garnet Watchorn President, Graywoods
Stephan & Adriana Benediktson, CEO, Daleco Resources Corporation
Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson, President Canadian Shelter Co. (Member World Presidents Organization)
Duncan and Judy Jessiman, President Bison Transport. (Member World Presidents Organization)
William and Donna Lovatt, CFO London Life and Great West Life
Dr. Steven and Elizabeth Funk. CEO Dignity Fund. (Member World Presidents Organization)
Blane and Barbara King, Former President Shoppers Optical
Gerry Connor, Cumberland RCB Management
Gordon Ritchie Past President, RBC
Dominion Securities, New York
Irving Ungerman, Philanthropist
Jeanne Becker, Fashion Television, Canada Next Top Model
John Clark, J.C. Clark
Kenneth Field President, Invest Corp.
Ken Thomas VP, Barrick Gold Corp.
Mark Wettlaufer Past President, Asset Management Toronto Dominion Bank
Moe Koffman, Flutist musician estate
Peter Widdirington
Past Deputy, Commissioner of Major League Baseball
Peter Bronfman, estate
Robert Bradshaw, Contor Industries
Brian Robbins, Exco Tecnology Ltd.
Ron Meade, Altamira Mutual Funds
Jim Meekinson, Trimin Capital Corp.
Jim Thomson, Thomson Terminals
Jean Paul Leroy, Seprim Paris, France
Warren Thomson, Executive Vice-President of John Hancock Financial
Dr. Barry French, University of Toronto
Robert Foster President, Canada Capital
Robin Korthals Former President, Toronto Dominion Bank
James McSherry, Vice-President Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Reay Mackay past Vice Chairman, Royal Bank
Timothy Danson, Trial Lawyer
Timothy Price
Chairman, Trilon
Mr and Mrs. W.A. Breukelman Former Owner IMAX & Sciex
Estate Monroe Meyerson, Radiology Corporation of America
Ron Joyce, founder of Tim Hortons
Pierre Lasonde, Newmount Mining
Hartley Richardson, Richardson and Sons
Scott Beattie , Owner and CEO of Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2009 Kinsman Robinson , Toronto
2008: Major Retrospective Exhibition ,Forbes Magazine Gallery, New York
2007: Kinsman Robinson, Toronto
2006: Whitfield Gallery, San Miguel de Allende
2001-02: Major Retrospective Exhibition
- Forbes Magazine Gallery
New York
1999: Dennis di Lorenzo Gallery, New York with James Whitfield Fine Art
1996: The Virtual Art Gallery, Palo Alto
1992: Humphrey Gallery, New York
1988: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal
1985: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal
1987: Galerie Basmadjian, Paris
1997: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1995: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1993: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1991: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1986: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1985: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1982: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1981: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1979: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1977: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1975: Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1969: McCready Gallery, Toronto
1984: Bates Hill Gallery, St. John’s
1983: The Gallery, St. John´s
1982: The Gallery, St. John´s

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2006: “International Realities”, Whitfield Gallery, San Miguel de Allende
2003: Hammer Galleries, New York
2003: Lacroix Gallery, Quebec city
2002: Hammer Galleries, New York
1998: Forbes Magazine Gallery, New York
1999: Forbes Magazine Gallery, New York
1991: Humphrey Gallery, New York
1986: Galerie Basmadjian, Paris
1972-1998: Roberts Gallery, Toronto. In the Annual “Artists Choice” Show.
University of Toronto
Art Gallery of Ontario
Humming Bird Center
Agnes Etherington Gallery

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		MICHAEL FRENCH M ichael French is an internationally recognized artist. For over forty years he has exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Paris and San Miguel de Allende. Born in 1951, Michael moved in 1956 to England where he started school. His father Dr. Barry French, a professor, and recipient of the order of Canada and his mother Gloria French, a teacher, traveled extensively throughout Europe with Michael which had an influence on his painting subjects in the years to come. In 1972 Michael met the great American realist Andrew Wyeth in South Cushing Maine. Mr. Wyeth was kind and supportive while giving Michael valuable advice regarding the art world and painting techniques. Wyeth was a tremendous influence in French’s earlier work. Out of appreciation for the late Mr. Wyeth’s help, Michael always stayed in touch sending him invitations , catalogues and pamphlets to let Mr. Wyeth know of the major events taking place in Michael’s life. Michael paints images from his memory or more recently often from photographs, which are naturally peaceful scenes that sometimes contain people. His paintings often reflect an influence of the great early 20th century European surrealists, such as Magritte. Probably the most important aspect of his paintings is the extreme light which sometimes borders on the surreal. Landscapes and portraits by Michael French figure prominently in the finest public and private collections around the world including world leaders such as HRH. Prince Charles, President George Bush senior, who gave the commissioned portrait of him painted by Michael to his Presidential Library and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. In 1995 the Forbes family in New York started collecting Michael´s work which led to a long relationship with the Forbes where by Christopher Forbes essentially became Michael’s patron in New York and to date the Forbes have acquired fifteen paintings. Christopher Forbes presented one of Michael’s paintings to HRH. Prince of Wales. Michael has had a total of thirty eight group exhibitions and twenty six solo exhibitions including his last retrospective exhibition in the Forbes Magazine galleries-museum on Fifth Avenue in New York in 2008 and his last exhibition at the Kinsman Robinson Gallery in Toronto on 2009 . For 42 years Michael has been having exhibitions since his first show in 1968 . Definition Michael’s paintings fall under the general category of realism, often incorporating elements of surrealism in harmony, balance, design, color and sometimes his work borders on hyperrealism, closer to the European hyperrealism than American style photo realism. MICHAEL'S TECHNIQUE Michael’s paintings are always from images he has seen in real life and then he either draws only the most important elements right out of memory or does so later from a photograph. By eliminating all of the extraneous or unimportant, cluttering objects in a composition and creating the composition in a harmonious balanced way Michael’s work often feels or looks quite calm and the environment perfect or pristine. Working from a photograph or the reality is virtually the same except that a photograph freezes the changing conditions such as light or flowers wilting, etc. and this allows Michael to study the image for much longer period of time especially with highly detailed subjects or in the execution of a portrait by example. In Michael’s more recent hyper realistic paintings this advantage is very important. It is also very true that much of the art process if using photographs is in the original capture of the image. Still, working from memory, a photograph or reality, what is really essential is the composition, incorporating balance , negative and positive, color balance and the design, the lighting and textures all of which have to reflect the image Michael has in his head. Michael painted on acid free art board panels for approximately the first twenty years of his career. He , then painted on sanded acrylic panels for almost another twenty years. In the last few years Michael has got back to painting on acid free art board panels that he specially constructs. The image from the photograph or from his mind is usually transferred by pencil to the art panel . Some artists like Vermeer used lenses to accomplish this and in modern times artists use various techniques by example projection, tracing, using a grid or cutting up photos for scale and many other tricks of the trade. The next stage in his painting process is the under painting, which is done totally by airbrush of the sky and water by example and always in acrylic. Airbrush is essentially a very fine spray . The reason why the under painting is not normally done in oil is because layers of oil over many years tend to crack but if only the over painting is done in oil or glazes there is little risk of eventual cracking. Michael has occasionally done the total under painting in black to white in oil and then glazed in the color only as was the technique used by the Flemish masters but normally he under paints in acrylic which is a far more stable medium and far more suitable for airbrush under painting. The next stage in the painting, is the over painting which is the majority of the painting (probably 80% to 90%) is accomplished by brush, usually in oil paint. However things like waves or blades of grass tend to be painted in acrylic because they are done in roughly straight lines with no blending. Oil paint tends to be richer and less limiting in color selection than acrylic so the majority of over painting and glazing (very thin paint) is done in oil. Michael has his art panels constructed out of art board made with 100% acid free, rag cotton, archival thick paper (sometimes with a texture) which is also opaque white and when painted on Michael can achieve the luminosity often apparent in his work using thin glazes for color. The paintings are then varnished many times with thin coats of museum quality synthetic varnish (that will not yellow, crack or bloom like natural resin dammar varnish) and the paintings are usually framed in real 23 ½ carat gold. CORPORATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS · George Bush Presidential Library · Forbes Magazine, Collection in New York, . California, Highlander Yacht · Bank of Nova Scotia · Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce · CIT · AGF Management · RBC Dominion Securities · Davies, Ward, Phillips and Vineberg · Gordon Securities · Heenan and Blakie · YMG Capital Management · Hiram Walker · Lloyds Bank · Great West Life London Life · McCarthy, Thetrault · Borealis · Royal Trust Company · CAE Industries · Royal Bank · Xerox · Manulife-John Hancock Financial · SNC Lavalin . Connor Clark . Royal Bank of Canada . James Richardson and Sons. SOME PRIVATE COLLECTIONS His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Hon. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Hon. Frank Moores, estate Hon. John Aird, estate Hon. Barney Danson Hon. Don Jamieson, estate Anne Murray, Singer Performer Christopher and Astrid Forbes Craig Dobbin estate, Canadian Helicopter Corporation David Sobey, Sobey´s store Douglas Mackay Former, RBC Dominion Securities Fraser Fell Former, RBC Dominion Securities Garnet Watchorn President, Graywoods Stephan & Adriana Benediktson, CEO, Daleco Resources Corporation Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson, President Canadian Shelter Co. (Member World Presidents Organization) Duncan and Judy Jessiman, President Bison Transport. (Member World Presidents Organization) William and Donna Lovatt, CFO London Life and Great West Life Dr. Steven and Elizabeth Funk. CEO Dignity Fund. (Member World Presidents Organization) Blane and Barbara King, Former President Shoppers Optical Gerry Connor, Cumberland RCB Management Gordon Ritchie Past President, RBC Dominion Securities, New York Irving Ungerman, Philanthropist Jeanne Becker, Fashion Television, Canada Next Top Model John Clark, J.C. Clark Kenneth Field President, Invest Corp. Ken Thomas VP, Barrick Gold Corp. Mark Wettlaufer Past President, Asset Management Toronto Dominion Bank Moe Koffman, Flutist musician estate Peter Widdirington Past Deputy, Commissioner of Major League Baseball Peter Bronfman, estate Robert Bradshaw, Contor Industries Brian Robbins, Exco Tecnology Ltd. Ron Meade, Altamira Mutual Funds Jim Meekinson, Trimin Capital Corp. Jim Thomson, Thomson Terminals Jean Paul Leroy, Seprim Paris, France Warren Thomson, Executive Vice-President of John Hancock Financial Dr. Barry French, University of Toronto Robert Foster President, Canada Capital Robin Korthals Former President, Toronto Dominion Bank James McSherry, Vice-President Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Reay Mackay past Vice Chairman, Royal Bank Timothy Danson, Trial Lawyer Timothy Price Chairman, Trilon Mr and Mrs. W.A. Breukelman Former Owner IMAX & Sciex Estate Monroe Meyerson, Radiology Corporation of America Ron Joyce, founder of Tim Hortons Pierre Lasonde, Newmount Mining Hartley Richardson, Richardson and Sons Scott Beattie , Owner and CEO of Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics. SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2009 Kinsman Robinson , Toronto 2008: Major Retrospective Exhibition ,Forbes Magazine Gallery, New York 2007: Kinsman Robinson, Toronto 2006: Whitfield Gallery, San Miguel de Allende 2001-02: Major Retrospective Exhibition - Forbes Magazine Gallery New York 1999: Dennis di Lorenzo Gallery, New York with James Whitfield Fine Art 1996: The Virtual Art Gallery, Palo Alto 1992: Humphrey Gallery, New York 1988: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal 1985: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal 1987: Galerie Basmadjian, Paris 1997: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1995: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1993: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1991: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1986: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1985: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1982: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1981: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1979: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1977: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1975: Roberts Gallery, Toronto 1969: McCready Gallery, Toronto 1984: Bates Hill Gallery, St. John’s 1983: The Gallery, St. John´s 1982: The Gallery, St. John´s GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2006: “International Realities”, Whitfield Gallery, San Miguel de Allende 2003: Hammer Galleries, New York 2003: Lacroix Gallery, Quebec city 2002: Hammer Galleries, New York 1998: Forbes Magazine Gallery, New York 1999: Forbes Magazine Gallery, New York 1991: Humphrey Gallery, New York 1986: Galerie Basmadjian, Paris 1972-1998: Roberts Gallery, Toronto. In the Annual “Artists Choice” Show. University of Toronto Art Gallery of Ontario Humming Bird Center Agnes Etherington Gallery