Cities/YYC

Forever Flowers Bloom at Wallace Galleries

Take a picture, it’ll last longer: a gorgeous bouquet of flowers is a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift, but Robert Lemay’s floral paintings on view at Wallace Galleries are forever.

By: NEXT Magazine

Robert Lemay sitting in front of his artwork

Say It With Flowers
May 8–26 / Wallace Galleries / Virtual and in-person / free
wallacegalleries.com/exhibitions

Take a picture, it’ll last longer: a gorgeous bouquet of flowers is a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift, but Robert Lemay’s floral paintings on view at Wallace Galleries are forever. Painted chiaroscuro style with dramatic sweeps of bright colours and saturated shadows, the artist was inspired by the Italian flower markets of Rome, where he was staying when the pandemic took hold.

“I wanted to paint from the viewpoint of the person leaning into a bouquet of flowers and absorbing the scent and the sensations of the textures,” says Lemay. Granted, original artwork is not in everyone’s budget— spend quality time with Mom by masking up, making an afternoon of it and just browsing the stunning collection. Of course, viewing online is always an option.