"As a painter and a graphic artist, Leon Bellefleur has been among the forerunners of the new painting in Quebec. The key word for the understanding of his evolution is "spontaneity", which attitude he first learned from children, and which lead him to be influenced by the surrealists in his approach to creativity. His gouaches and paintings explore a ‘magic’ world which is never figurative. They evoke an interplay of the four elements, through free movement of colours and forms. In his recent works, Bellefleur succeeds in presenting his themes with more and more fluidity, so that they seem to emerge from outer space."

(Gilles Henault, 1998)

Leon Bellefleur was born in Montreal in 1910. He studied at the Jacques-Cartier Teachers’ College, and was engaged as a teacher by the Catholic School Commission of Montreal. Concurrently, he took night classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (1929-1938)

In 1942, with Archambault, Pellan, De Tonnancour and several others, he signed the Prisme d’Yeaux manifesto and exhibited with the group at 3430 Ontario Street in Montreal. In 1949, Bellefleur was much interested by the work of Kandinsky and that of Miro. He subscribed to the surrealist theory on objective accidents and embraced graphic automatism. 1949 was a particularly important year for this artist, who found his way with a picture titled "Poisons Rouges Aux Seins Bleus" (National Gallery of Canada). In 1954 he left for Paris, where he studied etching at Friedlander’s studio. With a grant from the Canada Arts Council, he pursued his work at l’Atelier Desjobert, Paris, in 1958-1959. He was a member of the Canadian Society of Graphic Art and of the Canadian Painters Group in 1955, then of the Montreal Association of Non-Figurative Artists in 1956. Leon Bellefleur finally settled in Quebec in 1966.

He has received many awards, among which is the Jessie Dow Award Art Association Of Montreal (1951), The Drawing Award 2nd Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Art (1957), 2nd Prize - Painting Exhibition of the Commonwealth, Vancouver (Canada, Australia, Great Britain) (1957), Paul Emile Borduas Prize (Plastic Arts), 1977, awarded by the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Canada Council Fellowship (1958-1968), and the Philippe Hébert Award (1968).

Exhibitions of the work of Leon Bellefleur include Sao Paulo Biennial (1953), Agnes Lefort Gallery, Montreal (1955), Phrase Creuze Gallery, Paris France (1955), International Exhibition of Sketches & Engravings, Lugano Switzerland (1956), Galerie L’Actuelle, Montreal (1956), Commonwealth Exhibition, Vancouver (1956), Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto with Borduas, Mousseau and Riopelle (1957), Toronto Art Gallery with Leduc, Lemieux and Piche (1957), Denyse Delrue Gallery, Montreal (1957, 1958, 1960), Second Canadian Art Biennial (1957), Second International Exhibition Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (1957), Canadian Pavilion World’s Fair, Brussels (1958), 3rd Biennial of Canadian Art (1959), International Exhibition Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1960), Dresdnere Gallery, Montreal (1961, 1962), Here and Now Gallery, Toronto (1961), 4th Biennial of Canadian Art (1961), Arditti Gallery, Paris, France with Alleyn, Borduas, Riopelle, Ferron and Lefebre (traveling to Turin, Milan and Zurich 1962), Canadian Exhibition Spolette, Italy (1962), Siecle Gallery, Montreal (1964, 1966), Connaitre Gallery, Paris, France (1965), Robert’s Gallery, Toronto (1966, 1971), L’Atelier, Quebec (1967), Blue Barn Gallery, Ottawa (1967), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa traveling to the London Regional Art Museum and Musee d’Art Contemporain (1968), Michel Champagne Gallery, Quebec (1969), Damkjar Burton Gallery, Hamilton with Jack Shadbolt (1972),

Leon Bellefleur has had over thirty-four solo exhibitions of his work in Canada and abroad including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton, London Ontario, Paris France, London England and Ribe Denmark.

His work appears in important public and private collections in Canada and abroad including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Quebec Museum, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the St. Laurent Museum, Concordia University , University of Montreal, Museums of Hamilton, Windsor, Tel Aviv (Israel), and a great many corporate and private collections.