David Bolduc: Painting as a Poetic Journey in Toronto’s Abstract Art Scene

"From the Moore Gallery: A Portrait of David Bolduc" (1987)

David Bolduc (1945–2010) remains a vital figure in Canadian abstraction, celebrated for his colour-rich canvases and lyrical sensibility. More than a painter of forms, Bolduc approached art as a poetic journey—infusing his works with the rhythm of travel, literature, and meditation. His legacy is especially tied to Toronto, where he helped shape the third generation of abstract painters and brought a fresh vitality to the city’s art scene.

Early Explorations and Toronto Beginnings

Born in Toronto, Bolduc studied at the Ontario College of Art and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts before returning to his hometown in 1966. His exhibitions at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery in the late 1960s signaled his bold experimentation with shaped canvases and minimalist constructions of vinyl, rope, and mirrors. Even at this early stage, Bolduc demonstrated a fearless commitment to reimagining what painting could be—an ethos that would define his entire career.

The Emergence of a Signature Style

By the mid-1970s, Bolduc had arrived at his mature style: richly textured backgrounds punctuated by bold central motifs, often painted directly from the tube in thick impasto. These motifs—trees, flowers, columns, or other organic forms—became what Bolduc called “carriers for colour,” vehicles through which he could explore the emotional and spiritual resonance of painting.

David Bolduc
Winter East, n.d.
acrylic on canvas
29” x 35.5”

It is here that works like Winter East and Waste Land stand out. Winter East distills the essence of a flower into a lyrical central form, framed by sweeping lines that give it both fragility and strength. Waste Land transforms the Canadian landscape into a radiant field of colour, where trees glow like luminous beacons of renewal. These paintings embody Bolduc’s ability to merge modernist rigour with poetic, almost spiritual imagery.

David Bolduc.
Waste Land, 1986
acrylic on canvas
48" x 55"

Contribution to the Toronto Scene

Bolduc’s work placed him among peers such as Alex Cameron and Paul Sloggett, artists who collectively bridged the gap between second-generation modernists like Jack Bush and a new wave of Toronto abstraction. His inclusion in landmark exhibitions, including the 1977 14 Canadians: a Critic’s Choice at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., positioned Toronto as an international centre for contemporary abstraction.

His influence extended beyond the canvas. Collaborations with Canadian poets and his presence in Toronto’s cultural life linked painting with literature, enriching the city’s creative fabric. Through decades of exhibitions at Carmen Lamanna, David Mirvish Gallery, Moore Gallery and beyond, Bolduc remained deeply connected to the city that shaped his vision.

David Bolduc exhibition at the John Mann Gallery, St. Catharines 2020

Legacy and Collectability

Today, Bolduc’s works are held in major Canadian collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada. Yet it is in private collections that the vitality of his art continues to thrive, offering collectors the chance to engage directly with one of Canada’s most poetic modernists.

Winter East and Waste Land are more than visual achievements; they are reputable works that carry Bolduc’s signature vision at its fullest. For collectors, they represent not only a meaningful connection to the history of Toronto abstraction but also an opportunity to acquire works that embody the enduring richness of Canadian modernism.