Ottawa under fire for taking down Quebec art

Alfred Pellan's painting of eastern Canada that was hanging in the Lester B. Pearson building in Ottawa until June. (CP)

A decision to replace paintings by a major Quebec artist with a portrait of the Queen at a federal government building is coming under fire in the artist's home province.
The paintings by Alfred Pellan, a Quebecer who was a staunch federalist, used to hang at the Lester B. Pearson Foreign Affairs Building, where Canadian officials often meet with foreign diplomats and dignitaries.
"I think it's very shocking. Alfred Pellan is one of the most important painters of Canada. Those paintings are masterpieces," said Pellan's biographer Germain Lafebvre.
Lefebvre said Pellan helped modernize Canadian painting by introducing cubism and surrealism.

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