Born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Québec, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905–1960) spent the first years of his artistic career as a church decorator and religious painter under the wing of Ozias Leduc. He completed the painting program at Montréal’s École des Beaux-Arts and continued to aid Leduc with his religious commissions. Borduas also studied art in Paris where he came under the influence of the surrealists.

In Montréal, Borduas taught art in the Catholic School Board schools. During his years of teaching there and later at l’École de meuble and the Collège Saint-Sulpice, Borduas’ art continued to be affected by surrealism and was further influenced by a new-found interest in psychoanalysis. It was his involvement with both that inspired Borduas to begin "automatic" painting. Soon after, Borduas assembled a group of like-minded individuals, who were also interested in surrealism and psychoanalysis, and created "Les Automatistes," of which Jean-Paul Riopelle was a member. Borduas and his followers had several shows as "Les Automatistes" but were perhaps most recognized for their controversial manifesto, the Refus Global (1948).

The manifesto, which consisted of a hand-assembled book with illustrations, contained an essay written by Borduas advocating, among other things, the religious and political liberation of Québec. Borduas wanted to overthrow traditional Québec values and ideals that were largely a result of French-Canadian assimilation. Borduas’ thoughts and ideas were later to be linked to the Quiet Revolution. As a result of his manifesto Borduas lost his teaching position at l’École de meuble, as well as most of his credibility. Despite his lack of funds and his lack of permanent employment, Borduas continued to paint. He made frequent trips to New York and became involved with the Abstract Expressionists.

Reference:
Reid, Dennis. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. 2nd Ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988.

EXTERNAL LINKS:
Borduas biography MIRA GODARD Gallery.
About the Refus Global 1998 CBC radio program on The Arts Today. Audio file of program.

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