Porte d’orient [Gate to the Orient] is composed of juxtaposed rectangular areas of flat colour. The brushstrokes echo the tensions between the verticals and horizontals that lend the work dynamic energy. The colour contrasts and imprecise treatment of outlines make the compositional elements seem to vibrate and give the painting a certain depth. As the viewer’s gaze moves around the canvas, the forms advance and recede. This work represents a turning point for Fernand Leduc and for Quebec painting in general, marking the transition from gestural abstraction toward a geometric treatment.

Fernand Leduc was a Quebec painter whose prolific career spanned several abstract painting movements. While his early works are marked by the expressive gestures typical of the Automatistes, his explorations of geometric forms from the mid-1950s place him among the Plasticiens. The Plasticiens’ orderly compositions and sharply defined simplified forms constituted a break from Automatisme and significantly influenced contemporary painting not only in Quebec but across Canada. Leduc explored light throughout his career, from the early gestural experiments to the large monochrome canvases of his later years.