Jacques Godefroy de Tonnancour was one of the most important Quebec and Canadian contemporary painters. He studied at the former École des Beaux-Arts du Québec starting in 1937, and worked in Rio de Janeiro 1945-1946.

From his early works in Laurentian landscapes, he evolved into an abstract style influenced by his friends Alfred Pellan, Paul-Émile Borduas, and Goodridge Roberts. His manifesto, Prisme d'yeux, was published in 1948 with Pellan's support; it diverged from the influential Refus global, published around the same time. He was the Canadian delegate to a UNESCO conference in Florence in 1950. He taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, and at UQAM after the École became part of it, from 1969 to 198...