David Bolduc, Sidi Ifni Prison, 1994, watercolour on paper, 30.5 x 29 cm. Collection of the MacLaren Art Centre. Gift of Ethan Bolduc, 2003. Photo: Andre Beneteau
David Bolduc
Sidi Ifni Prison, 1994
watercolour on paper
30.5 x 29 cm
Collection of the MacLaren Art Centre
Gift of Ethan Bolduc, 2003
David Bolduc was a major Canadian artist whose colourful, semi-abstract paintings referenced his extensive travels and love of literature. Bolduc’s practice was informed by the gestural works of modern artists such as Jack Bush, Gershon Iskowitz and Henri Matisse, and reflected influences from the decorative arts of Asia, Europe and North Africa.
Sidi Ifni Prison is a moody watercolour of a boat-inspired building that was constructed by Spanish colonizers during their second occupation of Morocco in the 1930s. During this time, the Spanish built several art deco administrative offices in Sidi Ifni, including a town hall, a consulate and this naval base, which would later be repurposed into a prison. In the 1990s, Buldoc lived in Morocco and it is likely that Sidi Ifni Prison was painted during his travels to the country’s southwestern coast.
David Bolduc studied at the Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto and at the Museum of Fine Arts School, Montreal. He exhibited his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina; and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. His work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston; and the Art Museum of the University of Toronto. Bolduc was born in Toronto in 1945 and died in Toronto in 2010.
