Le Cheval Blanc 1984

Curator: Painted in 1984 by Jean Paul Lemieux, this is "Le Cheval Blanc" – The White Horse – rendered in oil paint. My immediate feeling is of…melancholy, almost? It’s quite muted, the palette is subdued, and yet there's this raw intimacy about it. Like a whispered secret. Editor: It does emanate a strange serenity. The figure—nude, atop a white horse. Horses themselves, especially white ones, carry so much symbolic baggage. Think of power, purity, freedom… the list goes on. To place a vulnerable figure in that context – is Lemieux suggesting something about powerlessness, or a raw kind of freedom? The figure almost blends into the sky. Curator: Maybe that's it – a freedom born of anonymity. The figure is barely rendered; indistinct features, almost like a ghost. The brushstrokes are loose, impressionistic, which amplifies this sense of transience. Are we looking at a memory? Editor: It is definitely Romanticism seeping in. The horse as a noble figure meets this almost ethereal rider under what seems like twilight, a moon perhaps, and very diffuse clouds above. The lack of bridle hints at uncontrolled instincts too, freedom but also unruliness. Perhaps an invitation to return to an unconditioned state. Curator: You are touching upon Romanticism, for me it’s how the subject is in symbiosis with the landscape. It becomes part of it, it dissolves, perhaps finds liberation and belonging at once? It does invite the viewer to participate in some ritual, however mysterious. There's a dreamlike quality too, which pulls at something primal, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely. And consider the white horse itself, not merely as freedom or power but as a vessel, even a psychopomp. Leading the soul through transitional spaces, mediating between worlds. Here, the rider merges, nearly unseen – are they the soul in transit, becoming one with the journey itself? Curator: Yes! As in dreams the soul can shed layers and find refuge in the liminal. This painting definitely has the power to stay with the viewer and spark infinite musings. Editor: Leaving one reflecting on our intrinsic, and very personal quest for freedom and truth.