Created around 1997, "Fleuron Sustained in Red" belongs to the artist's final decade of work, a period in which he favored large vertical compositions structured by columns or bands of color. It features one of his signature techniques: juxtaposing thick layers of acrylic, often applied in broad circular strokes, to create luminous depth and intense chromatic vibration.

The work illustrates the tension between opacity and transparency, between the density of black and the luminosity of greens, enhanced by the presence of red, which supports and energizes the whole. This contrast embodies Jean McEwen's quest: to give color expressive autonomy, where light seems to emanate directly from the pictorial material.

"Fleuron Sustained in Red" testifies to the maturity of an artist who, throughout his career, has successfully renewed lyrical abstraction in Quebec and Canada. His sensitive approach to color and light earned him recognition as one of the great Canadian painters of the post-war period.

*Title freely translated from French to English