Joseph Hector Yvon Fafard b. 1942

Private Collection, Vancouver

Mayo Graham, ed., Joe Fafard: The Bronze Years, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, 1996, for The Inventor and his Invention, reproduced in colour on the cover and on p. 55, cat. no. 29

Terrence Heath, Joe Fafard, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2007, p. 148 for The Inventor and His Invention, reproduced in colour

Throughout his career, Joseph Fafard has depicted celebrated 19th and 20th century artists in creative and witty ways. Whether his subject is Picasso, Renoir or Cézanne, Fafard has been able to capture the essence and characteristics of his predecessors.  In The Inventor and his Invention, Fafard continues his study of Vincent Van Gogh, portraying the Post-Impressionist asleep on a couch, with one eye half open. However, it is the inventive way in which Fafard highlights texture and colour that make this piece exceptional.  Fafard models the surface of the sculpture with the impasto of painting, interweaving brush strokes of flickering complementary colours as can be seen in Van Gogh's own works.  In doing so, Fafard cleverly creates the illusion that Van Gogh has materialized through one of his own paintings.  It is with this sense of humour, sharp visual wit and technical proficiency that Fafard enchants his audience.