Paul-Émile Borduas (1905-1960) National Historic Person
© Library and Archives Canada / Ronny Jaques / Copyright: expired
Paul-Émile Borduas was designated as a national historic person in 2024.
Historical importance: Canadian artists of international recognition, pioneer of abstract art and leader of the avant-garde movement in Canada, main author of Refus global of the group the Automatistes.
Commemorative plaque: no plaque installedFootnote 1
Paul-Émile Borduas (1905-1960)
Paul-Émile Borduas was a pioneer of abstract art in Canada. His artistic legacy, both at home and internationally, is outstanding. Creator of automatism, an avant garde art movement, he developed an innovative concept of pictorial art and was at the forefront of gestural abstraction in Quebec during the 1940s. Borduas was a key figure in 20th-century Quebec history, notably as the main author of Refus global, which was published in 1948 and co signed by other artists. He brought together these artists from different backgrounds to form a multidisciplinary collective that created a vision of Quebec with liberating, progressive, and modern ideas. Borduas made his mark on the international art scene through his participation in many museum and gallery exhibitions. He also represented Canada at several international exhibitions. In 1960, he was posthumously given a Guggenheim International Award for his painting L’étoile noire (1957), which is considered one of his masterpieces.
Borduas was born in 1905 in Saint Hilaire (now Mont Saint Hilaire), Quebec. As a young apprentice of painter Ozias Leduc, he studied at the École des Beaux Arts de Montréal and continued his training in Paris during the 1920s. In the early 1940s, under the influence of European avant garde movements, such as Surrealism and André Breton’s writing, Borduas abandoned his figurative style for abstract painting, which later became known as the Automatiste movement. Shortly after, he formed the Automatistes group with other young artists. In 1948, his criticism of Quebec’s political, cultural and social values and norms was published in an essay titled Refus global. This radical manifesto, written by Borduas in Saint Hilaire and co signed by the other 15 artists of the Automatistes group, provoked strong reactions in Quebec. In this seminal document, Borduas challenged traditional Québécois values and called for a freer and globally minded society. Borduas’ controversial opinions cost him his job as a teacher at the École du meuble de Montréal.
© Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
In 1953, Borduas left Montréal because of difficult living conditions. He moved to New York City, where he hoped to establish himself on the international scene. There, he discovered Abstract Expressionism, which gave new energy to his paintings. In 1955, he left for Paris. During this period, he considerably reduced his colour palette, ultimately producing mainly black-and-white paintings. His paintings also became increasingly austere and stripped. In the years preceding his death, he exhibited in London (1957 and 1958), Düsseldorf (1958), and Paris (1959). He represented Canada at the Bienal of São Paulo (1955) and the Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles (1958). He died of a heart attack in Paris on February 22, 1960, at the age of 55.
Borduas left behind a considerable body of work especially well represented in Canadian museums. Despite his early death, he remains one of the most influential Canadian painters of the 20th century, as well as an intellectual whose manifesto, Refus Global, has been interpreted as one of many events predicting the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
“The designation by the Government of Canada of Paul-Émile Borduas (1905-1960) as a national historic person, highlights his importance to the history of Canadian art and, more broadly, to the history of Quebec and modern Canada. Borduas' leadership and commitment to the search for new artistic practices led to the founding of the Automatist movement, which continues to inspire many contemporary artists. This designation is an opportunity for Canadians to take a closer look at a pivotal period in our history, and to learn more about the legacy of Paul-Émile Borduas.”
This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the Ministerial announcement in 2024.
The National Program of Historical Commemoration relies on the participation of Canadians in the identification of places, events and persons of national historic significance. Any member of the public can nominate a topic for consideration by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
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