Café Paris, Tangier

Provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
Notes:
Fifteen years ago artist and musician John Lennard visited the Café de Paris in Tangier, Morocco, a mecca for painters, musicians and writers who, since the late 19th century, have found limitless inspiration in the light and energy of this Mediterranean city. Henri Matisse, Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles, many Beat Generation poets including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, as well bands such as the Rolling Stones, were known to frequent this café. Lennard says, “From this inspiring location, with its sense of balance and wonder of nature, space and time seem to flow. [Café Paris] was the start of each day during my sojourn in Tangier. This painting was created from an early sketchbook I felt inclined to revisit after seeing the Matisse exhibition at the McMichael Art Gallery last year. The intense play of light in Tangier and North Africa is something that always stays with you.”

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The light to which Lennard refers is captured in Café Paris, Tangier (2015), with the stark, sun-washed whites of the architecture contrasted against cool shadows and the bright garments of his abstracted figures. Lennard’s perspective as a traveller inspires his painting practice and he skillfully captures the subtle nuances of each locale. His first museum exhibition, organized by the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie, Ontario in 2006, was entitled “The Artist as Traveller” and provided Lennard an opportunity to showcase his love for travel and foreign cultures by way of the painted canvas.

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John Lennard has studied art in Ontario, New York, Italy and Mexico and has paintings in many private and corporate collections in Europe and North America. He is also a renowned musician and performs internationally.