The Estuary, Baie St. Paul, Charlevoix, Que., 1985

Bruce Le Dain was an outstanding Canadian artist based in Montreal for the majority of his mature artistic career. Although many Le Dain collectors would think of him as synonymous with the landscape, he was equally accomplished when he diverted his interest toward painting the still life. Le Dain’s painting places were diverse. He travelled to many regions across Canada and painted in Western Europe as well. He exhibited regularly at our original family gallery, Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, where he found a constituency enthusiastic to own his paintings.

Immediately after his university days, Le Dain’s career took off as his work was accepted into the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts spring shows in 1949, 1952 and 1953 and then after an absence pursuing a professional career as a graphic designer he resumed exhibiting with the exhibiting with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1966. In both ‘67 and ‘69, Le Dain captured first prize for paintings of his that were shown in the Price Fine Arts Awards.

In 1984 Le Dain was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. After serving in a council capacity for several years, in 1991 he was elected as the 25th President of the Academy, the first painter to be elected President in 22 years. He exhibited almost exclusively in Montreal, but his work is in private collections throughout Canada, as well as the United States, England, France, Israel, the Netherlands, and Germany. His work can be found in over seventy-five corporate collections.