Collection: Normand Hudon

Normand Hudon 1929-1997

Born in Montreal in 1929 in the midst of the economic crisis, he began drawing on walls at a very early age due to a lack of paper. After completing his science course at the École supérieure Saint-Viateur in Outremont, he enrolled at the Montreal School of Fine Arts. With a boundless imagination, he had a taste for decoration and humorous illustration, but it was caricature that revealed the full extent of his talent.

His professional career began at the end of the Second World War in 1945. He offered some of his first paintings to the Journal La Presse, the largest French daily newspaper in America. As for his talent as a caricaturist, he had the opportunity to exercise it at the same time in the journalistic field, notably at the Journal La Patrie and Le Petit Journal. While continuing his courses at the École des Beaux-Arts, the young Normand held his first exhibitions before 1950 and began to make a name for himself as a painter and caricaturist. Then in 1951, he decided to go to Paris to complete his studies, where he met Fernand Léger and Picasso.

The period between 1952 and 1965 was the most brilliant of his career. He appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers, and journalists followed him. Hudon was then among the most popular stars in Quebec. He also became known in English-speaking circles and even in the United States. It was during this time that he organized several exhibitions, produced several book illustrations, and also created posters for cabarets and theaters. He agreed to publish several advertisements for commercial companies and collaborated with a large number of newspapers as a freelance illustrator.

From the very beginning of television, he participated in several shows in 1952, including Télescope, Tourbillon, Carroussel, le P'tit Café and Ma ligne maligne. These were mainly variety programs with films, songs, interviews, sketches and caricatures. Propelled to the forefront of the Montreal artistic scene thanks to the popularity of cabarets and television, he was in demand everywhere. He made the cover of Time magazine and was seen on Steve Allen's show, The Tonight Show a few times, which propelled his career in New York. He put on a caricature and improvised drawing show that was a great success.

After several detours during the 70s, he devoted himself to illustrating numerous books and collaborated as a caricaturist in several newspapers including the Journal de Montréal and Le Devoir. During the last 20 years of his life, between 1977 and 1997, Normand Hudon held no fewer than 25 solo exhibitions in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. The major recurring themes in his work are winter, hockey, the religious world, childhood, the legal world, and people of the robe such as lawyers, notaries and judges populate his paintings.

He died in 1997 at the age of 68.

“I am a joyful person and I want my paintings to make people smile, to make them happy.”