Paul-Emile Borduas

Born: November 1, 1905
Died: February 22, 1960
Place of Birth: Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec

• Paul Borduas is credited with starting a new era in Canadian art.

• He took his early training under a church decorator, Ozias Leduc.

• Initially, he wanted to become a religious painter.

• He evolved into an abstract artist hence his art had difficulty being accepted.

• His paintings were attempts to express the non-material world.

• Borduas exhibited this new abstract art movement in 1942 .

• Borduas was a forward thinker and wrote "Le Refus Global"; a manifesto which would change Quebec history.

• He and his small group of artists believed in the liberation of the sub-conscious (Automatistes).

• His thoughts and ideas were linked to what was known as "The Quiet Revolution" in Quebec.

• Poets were influenced by this new way of thinking that questioned conservative and religious values.

• Borduas' work led to art works that were eventually accepted as a new form of non-academic art.

Last Updated: June 13, 2006
© Canada-Heros/Don Jones 2003