The Automatiste Revolution: Montreal 1941-1960

October 23, 2009 - February 28, 2010

Curated by Roald Nasgaard

"The Automatiste Revolution" – is it too early to call it the show of the year?" – Peter Goddard, The Toronto Star

"..the most impressive exhibition of 2009." Richard Rhodes, editor, Canadian Art

Guest-curated by Roald Nasgaard, this is one of the most extensive exhibitions of the Automatiste group of artists which included Jean-Paul Riopelle and Paul-Émile Borduas. The exhibition will present 60 works of art, as well as photographs, books, and other documentation, borrowed from across Canada.

The Automatiste artists gathered under the leadership of Canadian painter Paul-Émile Borduas in the early 1940s. Borduas was an artist and an activist for the separation of church and state in Quebec. The artists who gathered together were inspired by the stream of consciousness writings of the time and approached their paintings through an exploration of the subconscious – avoiding representation at all costs. Automatism is recognized today as the most interdisciplinary and possibly the most important modernist movement in Canada.

In 1948, a group of 16 artists signed a manifesto called the Refus global (Total Refusal) which became one of the pillars of the Quiet Revolution, a period of intense change in Quebec. The Refus global was an anti-religious and anti-establishment manifesto that would become one of the most controversial artistic and social documents in modern Quebec. The signatories of the Refus global were: Paul-Émile Borduas, Madeleine Arbour, Marcel Barbeau, Bruno Cormier, Claude Gavreau, Muriel Guilbault, Marcelle Ferron, Fernand Leduc, Thérèse Leduc, Françoise Sullivan, Jean-Paul Mousseau, Maurice Perron, Louise Renaud, Jean-Paul Riopelle, and Françoise Riopelle. The Automatistes were not solely painters but also included dancers, playwrights, poets, critics and choreographers. After 20 years of challenging the politically and religiously repressive Quebec society, the Automatistes as a group disbanded in 1960 with the death of Borduas.

Although the Automatiste artists exhibited in New York and Paris during the 1940s and 1950s, they are largely unknown outside of Canada, or specifically Quebec. For the first time, this premiere Canadian group will be exhibited in the United States when The Automatiste Revolution: Montreal 1941- 1960 tours to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in 2010. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is the preeminent gallery for post-war art in the United States. Louis Grachos, Director at the Knox-Albright says, "The gallery is looking forward to hosting this exhibition of avant-garde art by members of the Canadian Automatistes group of the 1940s and 50s. By exhibiting these works, our renowned collection of American abstract expressionist art will be seen in a broader, international context that will complement these remarkable works by Canadian artists from the same time period."

The accompanying publication to the exhibition co-authored by Roald Nasgaard and Automatiste historian and author, Ray Ellenwood will include 60 colour plates from the exhibition. The book is published by Douglas & McIntyre, who recently published Roald Nasgaard's Abstract Painting in Canada. The exhibition and publication are supported by the Varley-McKay Art Foundation and private donors.

Roald Nasgaard, Curator
Roald Nasgaard is a professor of art history and, for the past decade, chair of the art department at Florida State University. His long and distinguished museum career includes fifteen years as chief curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario, during which he oversaw many projects, among them the seminal 1984 exhibition and book The Mystic North. His book Abstract Painting in Canada was called "beguiling," "engaging" and "brilliant" by the Globe and Mail. He lives in Tallahassee and Toronto.

For more information about this exhibition, see the media release.