Bridges: Paul Fournier/Robert Daigneault

Virgil Hammock is head of the Canadian section of the International
Association of Art Critics and chair of the Department of Fine Arts at
Mount Allison University.

Bridges is the record, or rather the catalogue, of an exhibition of paintings by Toronto artist Paul Fournier, which were the result of his collaboration with composer Robert Daigneault. The two of them had studios in the same Toronto building from 1979 to 1982, and they had been friends for many years before that, so the collaboration seemed natural. Originally, the exhibition was in conjunction with the 1982 Guelph Festival, and the music which resulted from the collaboration was performed as well. The exhibition was then to tour for nearly a year and a half after the Guelph showing to other galleries in Ontario, the Maritimes, and the West. I do not know if the music will be heard at the other centres (the catalogue does not make this clear), but I hope so, as the collaboration is the point of the show, although both the music and the paintings can stand on their own merits. It is certainly a fine thing that two talented artists such as these can draw inspiration from each other. There is a nice photograph of Fournier holding a score in his hand while Daigneault plays the piano in a location that looks like the composer’s studio. In fact, the catalogue is full of photographs of artists looking like artists. In addition, the catalogue contains statements by the artists, short articles on each artist, good colour reproductions of Fournier’s paintings, and reproductions of some of the autograph scores of Daigneault.