Pauline Boutal: An Artist's Destiny, 1894-1992 9780887554834

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Pauline Boutal

Pauline Boutal An Artist’s Destiny 1894 – 1992

Louise Duguay TRANSLATED BY S.E. STEWART

For Denis

Contents List of Illustrations

ix

A Note on Sources

xxiii

Introduction

3

1 A Childhood in Brittany

11

2 The Breton Emigrants in St. Laurent, Manitoba

17

3 The Le Goff Family in St. Boniface

25

4 Arthur Boutal

29

5 Pauline and Arthur’s Engagement

37

6 The Eaton’s Catalogue at Brigdens

45

7 The Winnipeg School of Art and the Manitoba Society of Artists 53 8 A Shared Passion for Theatre

61

9 La Péninsule

73

10 The Years of Mourning

85

11 The Cape School of Art in Massachussetts

93

12 The Académie de la Grande Chaumière

107

13 More than Forty Years of Work

125

14 Le Cercle Molière and the Francophone Community

145

15 Painting—What She Loved Best

159

16 A Highly Respected Painter

175

17 The Brushes at Rest

183

Conclusion

191

Acknowledgements

193

Chronology: Milestones and Exhibitions

195

Notes

200

Bibliography

218

Photography Credits

227

Index

228

List of Illustrations Measurement of artwork in centimetres, height before width.

Chapter 1 A Childhood in Brittany 1. Vieilles maisons sur un pont, Bretagne [Old houses on a bridge, Brittany], 1971. Oil on canvas, , 40.5 x 51 cm. Collection of Roland Mahé, St. Vital. 2. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 3. Workshop of François Cabon, c. 1900. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 4. Église Saint-Hervé, Lanhouarneau, France, n.d. Postcard: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO.

Chapter 2 The Breton Emigrants in St. Laurent, Manitoba 5. Église de Saint-Laurent, Manitoba [Church in St. Laurent, Manitoba], 1977. Oil on canvas board, 40.5 x 51 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-11. 6. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 7. Jean-François Le Goff, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 8. Louise (Cabon) Le Goff, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 9. Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Canadian, 1869–1937. Women of Caughnawaga, 1924. Bronze, 43.1 x 32.1 x 57.6 cm. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, L-92.

Chapter 3 The Le Goff Family in St. Boniface 10. L’épicerie du coin [The grocery store on the corner], c. 1965. Oil on canvas board, 49.5 x 38 cm. Collection of Pierre and Mona Monnin, St. Boniface. 11. Pauline and Suzanne Le Goff and their grandmother Jeanne Cabon, c. 1912. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 12. The Le Goff family, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

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13. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1905. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 14. The Staff of Le Nouvelliste, c. 1910–1911. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

Chapter 4 Arthur Boutal 15. Arthur Boutal, c. 1927–1930. Pastel on paper, 37 x 30 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 16. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 17. Arthur Boutal, c. 1912. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 18. Arthur Boutal, n.d. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 19. Dis donc Bérubé, as-tu des r’tââilles?... [Hey, Bérubé, got any scraps?], c. 1909–1914. Pencil on paper, 26.5 x 30 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 20. Facteur, U.S. Postal Service [Postman, U.S. Postal Service], 1909. Oil on panel, 52 x 42.5 cm. Collection of Ken Warwick and Brenda Bracken-Warwick, St. Boniface. 21. Victoria Day, 1913. Ink and watercolour on paper, 21 x 29 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 22. Sketchbook, c. 1910. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 23. L’instituteur [The teacher], (signed Badigeon), c. 1910–1916. Sketchbook page, 18 x 11.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 24. Le typographe [The typesetter], 1912. Ink on paper, 28 x 19 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 25. Monsieur Quêteur et Monsieur Quêteux [The begging and the beggar], 5 September 1912. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

Chapter 5 Pauline and Arthur’s Engagement 26. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1916. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 27. Arthur Boutal and Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 28. Arthur and the Le Goff family, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 29. Pauline Le Goff and Arthur Boutal, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 30. Pauline, her father Jean-François Le Goff, third from left, and Arthur Boutal, sixth from left, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 31. Pauline Le Goff, right, and an unidentified person, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

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32. Arthur Boutal, c. 1914–1917. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 33. Gens de la h… otte [The upper crust], c. 1912–1914. Ink on paper, 19.5 x 28 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 34. Caricature d’Arthur [Caricature of Arthur], and an unknown person c. 1916–1917. Ink on paper, 28 x 20 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 35. Arthur Boutal, c. 1914–1917. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO.

Chapter 6 The Eaton’s Catalogue at Brigdens 36. Novembre [November], 1917. Watercolour on cardboard, 14 x 9 cm. Collection of Louise Duguay, St. Boniface. 37. Pauline Boutal, c. 1910. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 38. Pauline Boutal (detail), c. 1918. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 39. Pauline Boutal, fashion illustrator, 1947. Photograph: Collection of Louise Duguay, St. Boniface. 40. Eaton’s Catalogue, Spring & Summer, 1937, p. 2. Collection of the Manitoba Museum, HF 5467 E38 1900. 41. Eaton’s Catalogue, Fall & Winter, 1934, p. 5. Collection of the Manitoba Museum, HF 5467 E38 1900. 42. Arthur Boutal, c. 1928–1929. Pencil on paper, 21.5 x 29.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 43. Kay Star, c. 1925. Pencil on paper, 32 x 25.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 44. Eaton’s Catalogue, Spring & Summer, 1925, p. 99. Collection of the Manitoba Museum, HF 5467 E38 1900. 45. Ligie Jones, Mrs. Boutal leaves for the DRAMA FESTIVAL!, c. 1935. Watercolour on paper, 17 x 21 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 46. The Dirty Painters. n.d. Pencil on paper, 24 x 31.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 47. Mimi, Mimi! – Illustration, n.d. Ink on paper, 23 x 29.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 48. Illustration pour un conte – Époque de la Révolution [Illustration for a story – Revolutionary Era], n.d. Ink on paper, 22.5 x 29 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

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Chapter 7 The Winnipeg School of Art and the Manitoba Society of Artists 49. Martine, c. 1934. Pastel on paper, 44.5 x 35.5 cm. Collection of Guy and Jacqueline Chabbert, Brossard, QC. 50. Calendulas, 1930. Pastel on paper, 34.5 x 41 cm. Collection of Ken Warwick and Brenda Bracken-Warwick, St. Boniface. 51. John (10 years old), 1932. Pastel on paper, 33 x 25.5 cm. Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland , CO. 52. Jean Boutal, c. 1937. Pastel on paper, 33 x 25.5 cm. Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland , CO. 53. Lisette (Zizi), 1931. Pastel on paper, 9 x 7.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 54. La rivière La Salle [The La Salle River], c. 1925-1930. Oil on canvas, 25 x 30.5 cm. Archives of the Société historique de Saint Boniface (ASHSB), Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-19 (A-046). 55. Nicole, c. 1930–1939. Pastel on paper, 41 x 34.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-10 (A-066). 56. Nu, une étude [Nude, a study], 1939. Pastel on paper, 44.5 x 51 cm. Collection of Paul Léveillé and Karen Ingebrigtson, Kenora. 57. Tracy, c. 1937-1939. Plaster, 30.5 x 24.5 x 67 cm. ASHSB, Fonds Suzanne Tremblay (FST), 0548, A-443. 58. Arthur, c. 1930. Oil on panel, 25.5 x 18 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 59. Pont sur la Seine [Bridge over the Seine] (Marion Street, St. Boniface), c. 1943. Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 60. Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Canadian 1890–1956. Potato Patch, Snowflake, 1925. Oil on canvas board, 43.4 x 52.2 cm. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Donation by Bernhard Fast, G-98-279.

Chapter 8 A Shared Passion for Theatre 61. Pauline Boutal, 1925. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 62. Arthur Boutal, n.d. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 63. Pauline Boutal, c. 1925. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

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64. Le chant du berceau, set drawing, 1938. Watercolour on cardboard, 19 x 32 cm. ASHSB, Fonds Cercle Molière (FCM), 0025/G12/06. 65. Le voyage à Biarritz, set drawing, 1937. Ink and watercolour on cardboard, 22.5 x 35.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/039. 66. Le pater, drawing, 1926. Pencil on paper, 23 x 29.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/044. 67. Mouth, Prunella, costume drawing, n.d. Pencil and watercolour on paper, 31 x 24 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/081. 68. De Cuiche, Cyrano, costume drawing, n.d. Watercolour on paper, 32 x 24 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/068. 69. Cyrano, Act 1, costume drawing, n.d. Watercolour on paper, 25 x 30.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/077. 70. Cyrano, Act I, Two Ladies and Flower Girl, costume drawing, n.d. Watercolour on paper, 24.5 x 28.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/067.71. 71. Matin de Premier de l’an en Bretagne [New Year’s Morning in Brittany], 1938. Christmas card by Arthur and Pauline, 10.4 x 14 cm. ASHSB, Fonds Pauline Boutal (FPB), 0023/575/127. 72. Le train fantôme, 1932. Programme for Le Cercle Molière, 30 x 22 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/24. 73. L’Arlésienne, 1928. Programme for Le Cercle Molière, 4-colour, 23 x 15 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/21. 74. Popaul et Virginie, 1929. Programme for Le Cercle Molière, 23 x 15 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/22. 75. Mireille, 1935. Opera programme, Dominion Theatre, 23 x 15 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/5. 76. Rire est le propre de l’homme, 1927. Programme for Le Cercle Molière, 23 x 15 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/19. 77. Bibi, 1935. Programme for the Collège de Saint-Boniface, 22 x 14 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/4. 78. L’abonné fidèle [Wine, Snuff and Politics], 1940. Cover of La Liberté calendar, 15 x 17 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/130. 79. Arthur and Pauline Boutal on tour in Dunrea, Manitoba, 1938. Photograph: Collection of Athanase and Thérèse Lavoie, St. Boniface.

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Chapter 9 La Péninsule 80. Le prunier [The plum tree],1942. Oil on canvas board, 29 x 24 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 81. The house of Arthur and Pauline, n.d. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 82. Letter from Pauline Boutal to Margot Gagnon, 29 August 1938. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/102. 83. Pauline Boutal with John Kennedy and Christiane Le Goff, c. 1926. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 84. Jean Boutal, c. 1930. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 85. Pauline Boutal with John Kennedy and Christiane Le Goff, c. 1925. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 86. Jean et Arthur Boutal, c. 1930. Watercolour on paper, 23.5 x 33 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 87. Jean Boutal, 1932. Pastel on paper, 37.5 x 28 cm. Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 88. Les sœurs Guédonec, 1936. Photograph: ASHSB, FCM, SHSB-19135. 89. Arthur and Pauline, c. 1938. Photograph: Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 90. Marché à Lesneven à Place Le Flô [Market in Lesneven at Place Le Flô], 1931. Pastel on paper, 27.5 x 38 cm. Collection of Lynn Warwick, St. Vital. 91. Pauline and Arthur Boutal, c. 1935–1940. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 92. Pêcheurs sur un quai [Fishers on a dock], c. 1927. Watercolour and charcoal on paper, 21 x 23.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-16 (A-065). 93. Portrait d’Arthur [Portrait of Arthur], 1939. Pastel on paper, 37 x 30 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 94. Arthur Boutal, c. 1935–1940. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

Chapter 10 The Years of Mourning 95. Pivoines [Peonies], c. 1946. Pastel on paper, 37 x 30.5 cm. Collection of Bernard Légasse and Suzanne Dussault, Montreal. 96. Pauline Boutal before the Portrait d’Arthur, n.d. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 97. La chienne du roi (Sous la terreur), set drawing, 1944. Watercolour on paper, 23 x 33 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/24-34. 98. Prison guard, La chienne du roi (Sous la terreur), costume drawing, 1944. Pencil and watercolour on paper, 26 x 19 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/449/004.

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99. Manitoba Calling, 1944. Magazine cover, 24 x 16 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 100. Œuvres de secours à la France, Pauline Boutal, right, c. 1941. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, Box not numbered, Dica., not catalogued. 101. Illustration de La famille aux pieds de Saint Joseph, le jour du Culte [The family at the feet of St. Joseph on the day of rest], n.d. Page of a calendar for the Clerics of Saint Viator, 20 x 35.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 102. France quand même…, 1940. Engraving printed on cardboard, 11 x 18.5 cm. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/127. 103. Drawing for The Winnipeg Tribune, 19 July 1940, p. 5. 104. Pauline Boutal in front of the house at La Péninsule, c. 1945. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 105. Louise Le Goff, Suzanne Tremblay, and Pauline Boutal, c. 1947. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55795. 106. Pauline at La Péninsule, c. 1949. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55794.

Chaper 11 The Cape School of Art in Massachusetts 107. Quai par temps gris [Dock on a grey day], 1946. Oil on panel, 25.5 x 30.5 cm. Collection of Louise Rémillard Ulrich, St. Boniface. 108. Georgie Wilcox and Pauline Boutal (Cape School of Art), 1946. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55811. 109. Provincetown, Cape Cod, 1946. Oil on panel, 47 x 59.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-03 (A-031). 110. Pauline Boutal, Georgie and Bobbie Wilcox, 1946. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 111. Open air session (Pauline Boutal, left), 1946. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 112. Femme au chandail vert [Woman in a green top], 1946. Oil on canvas, 46 x 40 cm. Collection of Louise Duguay and Denis Lavoie, St. Boniface. 113. Les pilotis, marée basse [Piles at low tide], 1946. Oil on canvas, 49.5 x 59.6 cm. Collection of Bernard Légasse and Suzanne Dussault, Montreal. 114. Retour de pêche, quai à Provincetown, Cape Cod [Home from fishing, dock in Provincetown, Cape Cod], 1946. Oil on panel, 39.3 x 48.8 cm. Collection of Jean Paul Monnin, Montreal. 115. Pauline Boutal, 1946. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 116. Marcel Le Goff, c. 1947. Pastel on paper, 39 x 34 cm. Collection of Jean-Pierre and Monique Le Goff, Ville de Mont-Royal.

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117. Suzanne Tremblay, c. 1947. Pastel on paper, 43 x 30 cm. Collection of Robert and Shirley Clarke, Oakville. 118. John Kennedy (aged 25), 1947. Oil on canvas, 80.6 x 60.3 cm. Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 119. Gabrielle Roy, 1947. Pastel on paper, 52.9 x 36.1 cm. Collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 89.264. Bequest of Marcel Carbotte in 1989. 120. Portrait de Félix Gourbil, 1948. Oil on canvas, 110 x 96.5 cm. Collection of Félix Gourbil, Montreal.

Chapter 12 The Académie de la Grande Chaumière 121. Île Saint-Louis, Paris, 1948–1949. Oil on canvas, 53.5 x 44.5 cm. Collection of Tim Le Goff, Paris. 122. Pauline Boutal, Paris, 1948–1949. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55792. 123. Nature morte (Bouteille et trois pommes) [Still life (Bottle and three apples)], 1948–1949. Oil on canvas, 40 x 29.2 cm. Collection of Bernard Légasse and Suzanne Dussault, Montreal. 124. Autoportrait [Self-portrait], 1949. Oil on canvas, 39.7 x 32.0 cm. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Donated by Suzanne Tremblay, 2007-117. 125. Académie de la Grande Chaumière, 2004. Photograph: Collection of Bernard Mulaire, Montreal. 126. Nature morte (Poires et prunes) [Still life (Pears and plums)], 1948–1949. Oil on canvas, 25 x 29 cm. Collection of Denis Lavoie and Louise Duguay, St. Boniface. 127. Femme assise, robe verte [Seated woman, green dress], 1948–1949. Oil on panel, 61 x 43 cm. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Donated by Robert and Margaret Hucal, G-90-451. 128. Étude de nus [Study of nudes], 1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 34 x 27 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 129. Étude de nu [Study of nude], 1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 34 x 27 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 130. Nu féminin [Female nude], 1948–1949. Charcoal on paper, 48 cm x 33 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-14 (A-069). 131. Étude, Nu féminin assis [Study, seated female nude],1949. Oil on panel, 63 x 49.5 cm. Collection of Bernard Bocquel, St. Boniface. 132. Pauline Boutal, c. 1948–1949. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55787.

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133. Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris, 1948–1949. Oil on canvas board, 34 x 41.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, A-033. 134. Étude, Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris [Study], 1948–1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 34 x 27 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 135. Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1948–1949. Oil on canvas board, 29.5 x 37 cm. Collection of Marie-Thérèse Lavoie, Winnipeg. 136. Garçon dans le métro [Boy in the métro], 1948–1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 25.5 x 17.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 137. Dessins, Paris [Drawings, Paris], 1948–1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 25.5 x 17.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 138. Étude, Roulottes [Study, caravans], 1948–1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 25.5 x 17.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 139. Roulottes de cirque, Campement de forains à Montparnasse [Circus Vans at Montparnasse], 1948–1949. Oil on canvas, 42 x 52 cm. Collection of Tim Le Goff, Paris. 140. Étude, Bergerac [Study, Bergerac], 1949. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 25.5 x 17.5 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 141. Bergerac, 1949. Oil on canvas board, 39.5 x 49.5 cm. Collection of Bernard Monnin and Elizabeth Linn, Montreal.

Chapter 13 More than Forty Years of Work 142. Vieux magasin, rue York [Old store, York Street], 1951–1952. Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 49.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-17 (A-021). 143. Pauline Boutal before the portrait of Nicholas Volodymir Bachynsky, 1957. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55804. 144. Révérend père Pierquin, c. 1950. Oil on canvas, 59.5 x 44.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-06 (A-023). 145. Joseph-Philippe Guay, 1969. Oil on canvas, 70.5 x 61.5 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-176. 146. Joseph Van Belleghem, 1957. Oil on canvas, 71.5 x 61.5 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-175. 147. Étude 1, Joseph Van Belleghem [Study 1], 1957. Charcoal on brown paper, 58.5 x 43 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-96. 148. Étude 2, Joseph Van Belleghem [Study 2], 1957. Charcoal on white paper, 61.5 x 46 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-95.

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149. Loulou B., 1958. Oil on canvas, 74 x 56.5 cm. Collection of Louise Schroeder, Langley, BC. 150. Boy with dog, c. 1950. Oil on canvas, 59 x 50 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-20 (A-029). 151. Écoliers se rendant à l’école [Children going to school], 1954. Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 49.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-05 (A-019). 152. Ruelle de la rue Notre-Dame, Winnipeg [The lane by Notre-Dame Street, Winnipeg], n.d. Oil on canvas board, 39 x 51.5 cm. Collection of Robert and Shirley Clarke, Oakville. 153. Étude 1, Maman et Jean-Pierre [Study 1, Maman and Jean-Pierre],1950. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 34 x 27 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 154. Étude 2, Maman et Jean-Pierre [Study 2], 1950. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 34 x 27 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 155. Étude 3, Maman et Jean-Pierre [Study 3], 1950. Pencil on paper, sketchbook, 34 x 27 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 156. Maman et Jean-Pierre [Maman and Jean-Pierre], 1950. Oil on canvas, 76 x 96 cm. Collection of Jean-Pierre and Monique Le Goff, Ville de Mont-Royal. 157. Coussie, 1920. Pencil on paper, 20 x 16 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 158. Christiane, c. 1930. Pastel on paper, 19 x 24 cm. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 159. Christiane, c. 1957. Oil on canvas board, 58.5 x 49.5 cm. Collection of Tim Le Goff, Paris. 160. Christiane Le Goff and Pauline Boutal, 1958 (detail). Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55796. 161. Suzanne Tremblay, c. 1961. Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 71 cm. Collection of Université de Saint-Boniface. Donated by Louise Rémillard Ulrich, St. Vital. 162. Monique Guyot, c. 1961. Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 71 cm. Collection of Lorraine Guyot Turenne, Lac-du-Bonnet. 163. Lise Guyot, c. 1962. Pastel on paper, 51 x 40.5 cm. Collection of Lise Guyot, Kelowna. 164. Nature morte (Bouteille et oignons) [Still life (Bottle and onions)], n.d. Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 42 cm. Collection of Suzanne Belair, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 165. Poisson et pomme, une étude [Fish and apple, a study], n.d. Oil on panel, 45 x 51 cm. Collection of Robert and Margaret Hucal, Winnipeg. 166. Nature morte (Poires et raisins) [Still life (Pears and grapes)], n.d. Oil on panel, 30.5 x 35.5 cm. Collection of Robert and Margaret Hucal, Winnipeg.

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167. Nature morte (Poire et pommes) [Still life (Pear and apples)], detail, n.d. Oil on panel, 28.5 x 39 cm. Collection of Roland Mahé, St. Vital. 168. Nature morte (Assiette bleue) [Still life (Blue plate)], detail, c. 1950. Oil on panel, 39 x 49 cm. Collection of Paul Léveillé and Karen Ingebrigtson, Kenora. 169. Étude (Bouquet de fleurs) [Study (Bouquet of flowers)], detail, 1962. Oil on panel, 28.5 x 23.4 cm. Collection of Raymond and Jocelyne Constant, St. Boniface. 170. Coal Harbour, Vancouver, c. 1953–1957. Oil on canvas, 40.6 x 50.8 cm. Collection of Louise and John Warwick, St. Boniface. 171. Bateaux de pêche [Fishing boats], c. 1953–1957. Oil on canvas board, 51 x 61 cm. Collection of Suzanne Belair, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Chapter 14 Le Cercle Molière and the Francophone Community 172. Maître Jacques, L’avare, costume drawing, 1950. Watercolour on paper, 30 x 22.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/049. 173. Pauline Boutal and the cast of La donation, 1948. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, Box 1, Photos, File La donation, 1948. 174. Pauline Boutal before the panel Le rêve de monseigneur Langevin, 1953. Photograph: ASHSB, FPB, SHSB-19359. 175. Costume drawing for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, c. 1949–1950. Watercolour on paper, 30.5 x 24 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/079. 176. Pauline Boutal with pupils in her drawing class, c. 1958–1964. Photograph: ASHSB, FPB, SHSB-19429. 177. Les fourberies de Scapin, set drawing, 1955. Pencil and watercolour on cardboard, 24 x 31.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/24-31. 178. Pauline Boutal and the cast of La donation, 1948. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, Box 1, Photos, File La donation, 1948. 179. L’avare, set drawing, 1950. Watercolour on cardboard, 20 x 42.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/24-20. 180. Pauline Boutal and Le Cercle Molière’s team of technicians, before the set of Un chapeau de paille d’Italie, 1952. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, Box 1, Photos, File, Un chapeau de paille d’Italie, 1952. 181. Alcide, La donation, costume drawing, 1948. Watercolour on paper, 25 x 16.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/012. 182. Philidor, La donation, costume drawing, 1948. Watercolour on paper, 25 x 16.5 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/014. 183. Valère, L’avare, costume drawing, 1950. Watercolour on paper, 32 x 24 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/054.

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184. Philomène, Le village des miracles, costume drawing, 1953. Watercolour on paper, 30 x 23 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/450/059. 185. Le blouson noir [The Hoodlum], Édouard et Agrippine, costume drawing, 1963. Watercolour on paper, 30 x 23 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/G18/09. 186. Aldonza, Dulcinée, costume drawing, 1962. Watercolour on paper 32 x 24 cm. ASHSB, FCM, 0025/449/029. 187. Le casse-croûte [The snack bar], c. 1961. Oil on canvas, 61 x 122 cm. Collection of André Léveillé and Joanne Torchia-Léveillé, Arnes, Manitoba. 188. Broozie le colporteur [Broozie the pedlar], 1960. Oil on canvas, 99.5 x 70 cm. Collection of Shirley and Robert Clarke, Oakville. 189. Confidences, 1971. Oil on canvas, 46 x 56.5 cm. Collection of Serge and Julie Legault, Winnipeg. 190. Étude [Study], Confidences, 1971. Charcoal on paper, 40 x 51.5 cm. ASHSB, Collection of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, PB-15 (A-070). 191. Épanchement dominical [Sunday venting], 1965. Oil on panel, 45.8 x 35.5 cm. Collection of Léo Couture, St. Boniface. 192. Pauline Boutal at the Dominion Drama Festival, 1954. Photograph: Chatelaine, February 1954, p. 26. 193. Roland Mahé, 1974. Oil on canvas, 86 x 61 cm. Collection of Denise Mahé, St. Boniface.

Chapter 15 Painting—What She Loved Best 194. Chapelle du couvent des Sœurs Grises, c. 1965. Oil on canvas board, 23.5 x 38.5 cm. Collection of Guy and Jacqueline Chabbert, Brossard, QC. 195. Pauline Boutal, n.d. Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 196. Maison Taillefer Lévesque, 1972. Oil on canvas board, 39 x 48.5 cm. Collection of Jean Paul Monnin, Montreal. 197. L’ancienne librairie Keroack [The former Keroack Bookstore], 1960. Oil on canvas board, 49.5 x 60 cm. Collection of Claudette Groulx, Ottawa. 198. L’ancienne gare de train du CNR [The former CNR station], c. 1959. Oil on canvas board, 49 x 59 cm. Collection of Guy Létourneau, St. Boniface. 199. Musée de Saint-Boniface (autumn), c. 1965. Oil on canvas board, 40.5 x 50.5 cm. Collection of Gérald and Chris Couture, Toronto. 200. Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface, après l’incendie [after the fire] (rear view), 1970. Oil on canvas board, 34.3 x 42 cm. Collection of André and Carol Mahé, Saint-Vital.

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201. Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface, après l’incendie [after the fire] (front), 1972. Oil on canvas board, 34 x 29 cm. Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO. 202. Couvent des Sœurs Grises, c. 1965. Oil on canvas, 47 x 56 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-143. 203. Maison des Sœurs Grises, 1959. Oil on panel, 50.8 x 61 cm. Collection of Francis and Yvonne Fontaine, St. Boniface. 204. Musée de Saint-Boniface (under restoration), c. 1965. Oil on canvas board, 29 x 34 cm. Collection of Gérard and Billie Couture, Winnipeg. 205. Vieilles maisons, cour de l’archevêché [Old houses in the yard of the archbishop’s residence],1966. Oil on canvas board, 40.6 x 50.8 cm. Collection of Gabriel and Marcelle Forest, St. Boniface. 206. L’hôtel Mondor, 1980. Oil on canvas board, 40.5 x 50.5 cm. Collection of the Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum, AA-10. 207. Pauline, Marie Kennedy, Suzanne Hubicki, Louise Warwick, and Christiane Le Goff, c. 1980. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 208. Château en France [Castle in France], 1971. Oil on panel, 39.5 x 49.5 cm. Collection of Denise Mahé, St. Boniface. 209. Bergerac, 1971. Oil on canvas board, 40.6 x 50.8 cm. Collection of André and Carol Mahé, St. Vital. 210. Marie Ven, Pauline Ven, a neighbour, and Pauline Boutal, Lanhouarneau, France, c. 1971. Collection of John Kennedy, Loveland, CO.

Chapter 16 A Highly Respected Painter 211. Matin d’hiver [Winter morning], c. 1970. Oil on canvas, 40.6 x 50.8 cm. Collection of Roland Mahé, St. Vital. 212. Pauline Boutal in cap and gown upon receiving her honorary doctorate, 1978. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55824. 213. Sixtieth anniversary of Le Cercle Molière: Pauline Boutal, Roland Mahé, and Maureen Forrester, Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, 1970. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, ACM, Box Dica.e, not catalogued. 214. Pauline Boutal is made a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Roland Michener, 1973. Photograph: ASHSB, FPB, SHSB-19338. 215. Inauguration of the Salle Pauline-Boutal, 1975. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, CM710-0, Box 5, File Madame Pauline Boutal, 1975. 216. Pauline Boutal, 1975. Photograph: Collection of Le Cercle Molière, CM710-0, Box 5, File Madame Pauline Boutal, 1975.

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Chapter 17 The Brushes at Rest 217. Scène de Québec [Quebec scene], 1970. Oil on panel, 30 x 35.5 cm. Collection of Gérald and Chris Couture, Toronto. 218. Pauline Boutal, c. 1980. Photograph: ASHSB, FPB, SHSB-19355. 219. Christiane Le Goff, Suzanne Tremblay, and Pauline Boutal, Montreal, c. 1985. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55822. 220. Suzanne Tremblay, Christiane Le Goff, and Pauline Boutal, Montreal, 1986. Photograph: ASHSB, FST, SHSB-55821. 221. Suzanne Hubicki, Pauline Boutal, Margot Hubicki, and Louise Warwick, c. 1985. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface. 222. Drawing, c. 1990. Felt pen on paper, 12.5 x 20 cm. ASHSB, FST, 0548/0548/66. 223. Cimetière de la cathédrale et Hospice Taché [Cathedral cemetery and Hospice Taché], 1973. Oil on canvas board, 39 x 49.5 cm. Collection of Gérard and Billie Couture, St. Boniface.

Conclusion 224. Pauline Boutal, 1950. Photograph: Collection of John and Louise Warwick, St. Boniface.

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A Note on Sources Pauline Boutal’s correspondence At the time of writing, the letters from Pauline Boutal that I have quoted were part of Suzanne Tremblay’s private collection; she has since deposited them in the Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Suzanne Tremblay, Series 0548. At most, the changes made to this correspondence were editorial corrections for usage and adjustments for typographical reasons. The works of Pauline Boutal Pauline Boutal was not in the habit of dating her works; for that reason, I have only been able to indicate an approximate date for many of them. In addition, she would often give them such generic titles as “still life,” “study,” or “nude.” And, in some cases, she would not title them at all, and the accepted titles were conferred over time by admirers or collectors. Whenever possible, I have used the titles published in exhibition catalogues. Where several different titles exist for a single piece, as in the case of Roulottes de cirque, Campement de forains à Montparnasse, or Circus Vans at Montparnasse, I opted for the French-language title selected by Boutal herself for a particular exhibition. For more general titles that often recur, such as “still life,” I chose to add a description so as to make them easier to distinguish; for example, Nature morte (Pomme et poires) [Still life (Apple and pears)]. The writings of Pauline Boutal In the archival collections, I found several speeches and talks that Pauline Boutal had written. These pieces were usually untitled. I identified them by the opening phrase, to which I have added a description of the topic. Writings about Pauline Boutal The different archival collections also include many press clippings about Pauline Boutal. I have attempted to fill in any missing information, such as the date of publication, page numbers, etc., but in some cases definite identification of a clipping’s origin was not possible based on its content. In those cases, the essential reference to the respective archival collection is supplied for the interested reader.

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Pauline Boutal

Introduction Few women were truly able to lead the life of an artist in western Canada in the first half of the twentieth century. Pauline Boutal maintained three artistic careers for more than seven decades: in commercial art, visual arts, and theatre. Pauline Boutal was born Pauline Le Goff in Brittany, France, on 8 September 1894. She was exposed to art from a very young age in the stained-glass workshop of her paternal grandfather, where she received her first lessons in drawing. The Le Goff family left Brittany for Canada in 1907 and made their final move to St. Boniface in 1909. For twentythree years, Pauline worked as an illustrator of the Eaton’s Catalogue at the graphic arts firm Brigdens of Winnipeg. For twenty-seven years, she was also the artistic director of the Franco-Manitoban theatre company Le Cercle Molière. But drawing and painting remained consuming interests all her life, from 1894 to 1992. For seventy years, she was a practising visual artist.

“It was my true vocation.”1 Pauline Boutal earned her reputation as an artist through her painting. Throughout her career, she received high praise from the critics: from the artist Walter J. Phillips; Jean-Pierre Ostiguy, Service Manager at the National Gallery of Canada; and even Clement Greenberg, the famous American art critic, in Canadian Art magazine. Her output is impressive not only for the number of works spanning seven decades, but for the variety of media and subjects: oils, pastels, pencil, water colours, silkscreens and etchings, work with brushes and palette knives, private and official portraits, children’s portraits, nudes, urban and rural landscapes, and still life studies. As well, there were hundreds of drawings for sets and costumes, not counting her fashion illustrations. Pauline Boutal’s works are included in the collections of leading institutions in Manitoba and Quebec, and in numerous private collections across Canada and in the United States. Her artistic history follows the same path as that of many Canadian artists of her generation who, having completed their training in local art schools, chose to further their studies in the United States and Europe with well-known masters. In the 1920s and 1930s, she pursued her work in pastels at the Winnipeg School of Art and produced some outstanding 3

nudes (Martine, Fig. 49; Nicole, Fig. 55). During the 1940s, she studied under artists who had contributed to the development of modern art: George E. Browne and Henry Hensche, who taught her American Impressionism at the Cape School of Art in 1946; André Lhote, who taught her Fauvism and Cubism; and Charles Picart-Ledoux, with whom she studied Impressionism at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in 1948 and 1949. The academic training Boutal received is easily seen in her work— in her impasto technique, harmonious blend of colours, outstanding play of light, mastery of drawing, and balanced compositional structure. Her careful attention to light and atmosphere, pointing to an Impressionist influence, is seen in her landscapes (Quai par temps gris [Wharf under a grey sky], Fig. 107; Île Saint-Louis, Paris, Fig. 121), while her use of Fauvist colours and techniques is evident in the swift stroke of the palette knife (Vieilles maisons sur un pont [Old houses on a bridge], Fig. 1). Her still life works are modelled on those of the French masters studied in museums, and at times there’s a suggestion of Manet in the composition and the broad, colourful strokes (Poisson et pomme, une étude [Fish and apple, a study], Fig. 165; Nature morte [Poire et pommes] [Still life (Pear and apples)], Fig. 167). Her work in pastels evokes Cassatt and Degas; witness her bouquets of flowers (Calendulas, Fig. 50; Pivoines [Peonies], Fig. 95), or portraits in which the figure is sculpted by means of repeated parallel lines (Arthur Boutal, Fig. 93). Following her studies at the Cape School of Art in 1946, she produced remarkably expressive portraits in oils using a supple brush (John Kennedy, Fig. 118; Portrait de Félix Gourbil, Fig. 120). But it was after her stay at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière that her art reached its peak. Her work is made bolder by the choice of bright colours and the gesture becomes more expressive (Nature morte [Poires et prunes] [Still life (Pears and plums)], Fig. 126). The landscapes are more freely rendered, using a thick impasto applied with a palette knife and a masterful touch (La chapelle du couvent des Sœurs Grises [The chapel at the Grey Nuns’ convent], Fig. 194), while the portraits display an audacious style and a sure hand (Autoportrait [Self-portrait], Fig. 124; Femme assise, robe verte [Seated woman, green dress], Fig. 127). In fact, in her portraits, Pauline Boutal was one of a few artists ahead of her time among other painters of her generation. She draws on all her training to more fully convey the reality and bring out the subject’s characteristic features and tastes. As a theatre director, her ability to see the actors in their roles allows her to project the personality of her portrait’s subject in a particularly intense way. Her depiction of clothing (Monique Guyot, Fig. 162) demonstrates the importance she gives to light, and her treatment of skin (Joseph Van Belleghem, Fig. 146), the importance of colour. As with all accomplished painters, her work rests on a mastery of drawing, dictating her balanced compositional structures. 4

While women of her generation were relegated to the domestic sphere, Pauline was one of the few ahead of her time in choosing to pursue an artistic career. Of course she had the benefit of association with three generations of men—her grandfather, her father, and her husband—who recognized her talent, encouraged, and supported her. But she was a modern woman, if not a feminist ahead of her time, both for her choice of career and her contribution to the community’s cultural and social life. With her husband, she was host to the artistic élite of St. Boniface. Gabrielle Roy, for one, would retain a vivid impression of an atmosphere of freedom and independence, intellectual and artistic riches, and sheer pleasure in spending an evening with the Boutals. The man who played the leading role in Pauline’s life, the love of her life, was of course her husband Arthur Boutal, who was passionate about theatre. She met him in 1909, at fifteen, when working at her first job as a typesetter for the newspaper Le Nouvelliste. He paid for her first art courses, produced her first etchings and silkscreens, and introduced the young woman to the world of theatre in Winnipeg and St. Boniface. When in 1928 Arthur Boutal became artistic director of Le Cercle Molière, the first regional francophone theatre outside of Quebec, Pauline was right by his side throughout his productions—as an actor, a make-up artist, and most of all a designer of sets and costumes. In 1941, when Arthur passed away, she herself became the company’s artistic director. Despite the fact that the stage, like the arts in general, was at that time dominated by men, it was completely natural for Pauline Boutal to direct the company and to do it successfully for twenty-seven years. Under her direction, Le Cercle Molière gained a national reputation and its actors often became award winners. As an actor and an artistic director, she came away from the Dominion Drama Festival with several awards. Within the Franco-Manitoban community, she was known as “the Grande Dame of Le Cercle Molière.” Her contribution to Canadian theatre earned her many honours—the French government’s Palmes académiques (1939), a Canadian Drama Award (1950), the French culture Order of Merit (1971), the Order of Canada (1973), an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba (1978), and Quebec’s Ordre des francophones d’Amérique (1981). Of course, during that period, women who wanted to devote themselves to an artistic profession had many hurdles to overcome. But it is a period that has more recently been subjected to aesthetic and historical reassessment, as in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s 1995 exhibition Women’s Art, Women’s Lives, which included Boutal’s work. We cannot say that artistic work by women received the kind of reception given to the work produced by men. Just the same, Boutal grew up in an age that was gradually becoming more open to women who, as a result, were able to make a career of illustration and to receive adequate remuneration. In fact, it 5

was the Golden Age of illustration—a time when the production of illustrated publications was booming. Beginning in 1910, Pauline Boutal was taking courses at the Winnipeg Art Club with the objective of a career in illustration, and the timing was opportune. She became a fashion illustrator for the prestigious Eaton’s Catalogue produced by the graphic arts firm Brigdens of Winnipeg, where she worked alongside such artists as Charles Comfort, Eric Bergman, Charlie Thorson, Fritz Brandtner, and Philip Surrey. From the outset, she held a leading position among these graphic artists, which speaks to her talent and also to the prestige granted to her European background. She was at Brigdens for twentythree years, a remarkably long time for a woman working in the first half of the twentieth century. Like other Brigdens illustrators, Boutal maintained parallel careers in graphic arts and painting. Arnold Brigden was in fact an art connoisseur, and Patricia Bovey, Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery from 1998 to 2005, reports that “Arnold Brigden built an excellent art collection, including many fine pieces by employees such as: Charles Comfort, Gordon Smith, William Winter, Pauline Boutal and Eric Bergman.”2 Not only is the work of the artists he employed now favourably viewed, its influence has been recognized in exhibitions and recent publications. As historian Angela Davis notes, it is certain that Brigdens was “a ‘breeding ground’ for artists who contributed significantly not only to Winnipeg but also to the larger national cultural scene.”3 Michael Large, an historian and professor of design at Ontario’s Sheridan College, goes even further in saying that “commercial art production ‘preceded’ and directly affected the development of Canadian art.”4 In fact, the Winnipeg Art Gallery recognized that contribution in 2001 with an exhibition titled Brigdens of Winnipeg. From 1925 to 1975, Boutal, a long-time member of the Winnipeg Sketch Club, regularly took part in the Manitoba Society of Artists annual exhibitions; her pieces were often singled out by the critics from Winnipeg’s leading dailies and reproduced in their pages. Her work was featured in significant retrospectives: 150 Years of Art in Manitoba, mounted in 1970 by the Winnipeg Art Gallery, along with Images of Woman in 1975 and the Manisphere Jury Art Show in 1977; and in 1982, Art in Winnipeg, presented by the University of Manitoba’s Gallery One One One. Her first solo show, titled simply Madame Pauline Boutal, was held in St. Boniface in 1974 at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. It was to be followed by three more before she passed away in 1992—in 1975, a retrospective; in 1982, Paysages et Bâtiments: 1947 à 1978 [Landscapes and Buildings: 1947 to 1978]; and in 1992, Le Manitoba: ombres et lumières [Manitoba: Shadows and lights]. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed, as confirmed by the inclusion of her work in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s 1991 exhibition Recent Historical Acquisitions. 6

Following her death, the WAG continued to include pieces by Boutal in historical shows or exhibitions from its permanent collection: The Figure in Canadian Art (1993); Stored Secrets: The Vault on View (1994); The View from Here (2000); Flowers: From the WAG Collection (2000); The Manitoba Society of Artists, 100th Anniversary: Selections from the Historical Collection (2002); Selections from the WAG’s 20th Century Canadian Collection (2004); Into the Collection (2005); and Around Here: Historical Scenes of Manitoba (2007). Across the river, the Musée de Saint-Boniface exhibited her pieces in En paroles et en gestes: portraits de femmes du Manitoba français [In words and gestures: Portraits of women from French Manitoba] (1997). Two solo shows devoted to her work were mounted in the Salon Empire of the Centre du patrimoine in St. Boniface: Près de chez nous [Close to home] (1998) and Acquisitions récentes [Recent acquisitions] (2000), which are now part of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain’s permanent collection. These two shows underline how important Boutal’s work remains and the continual reassessment that her art still provokes—as witnessed by the rBr exhibition, a retrospective of Franco-Manitoban art shown in 2005 at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. Pauline Boutal’s works have been listed and catalogued and they appear in numerous publications, among them Profils féminins [Profiles of women] (1967), Le Cercle Molière—Cinquantième anniversaire [Le Cercle Molière—Fiftieth Anniversary] (1975), Le Manitoba, reflets d’un passé [Manitoba, reflections of the past] (1976) by Lionel Dorge, Le rideau se lève au Manitoba [Curtain up in Manitoba] (1980) by Annette Saint-Pierre, Dictionnaire des artistes de langue française en Amérique du Nord [Dictionary of French-language artists in North America] (1992) by David Karel, Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (1996), and the Dictionnaire des artistes et des auteurs français de l’Ouest canadien [Dictionary of French artists and writers from Western Canada] (1998) by Gamila Morcos. In addition, numerous articles have been published online, such as Avant le cyber-commerce: une histoire du catalogue de vente par correspondance au Canada [Before on-line sales: a history of direct mail sales catalogues in Canada], on the website of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (2002) and L’Encyclopédie canadienne Historica [The Historica Canadian encyclopedia] (2002).

“Try to write me!… just a few lines, straight from the heart”5 Pauline Boutal received substantial attention in the print media; critics and journalists covered both her career and her life. But her own pen was prolific; she delivered numerous papers, talks, and speeches—most of which remain unpublished—and gave many media interviews. She 7

authored an essay on secular theatre and Le Cercle Molière for Chapeau bas: réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français [Hats off: remembering French Manitoba’s theatre and music] (1985). Donatien Frémont published her recollections in Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien [The French in Western Canada], to which she contributed the cover illustration for the initial 1959 edition. In the tradition of French women of a certain class, she also maintained a voluminous correspondence. Her closest friend, Suzanne Tremblay, was her primary correspondent for five decades and saved over one thousand letters that she generously lent for this study. Boutal’s correspondence is characterized by a writing style that is elegant, lively, well informed, and refined. These letters contain essential first-hand accounts that make it possible to chart the course of the artist’s life by letting Pauline Boutal present it in her own words. The wealth of letters, memories, observations, and thoughts provide a profile of the artist as a person that is so far without precedent. It has allowed Boutal herself to contribute, in an almost autobiographical way, to an intimate portrait of the woman as artist and individual that is as faithful to her as it can be. Thanks to the invaluable descriptions she provides of her paintings, it is possible to follow the artist’s thought process as she works. Looking at the traces left by her brush, like her pen, we come to know both the private person who is deeply attached to her community and the professional artist who is completely devoted to her art, and who practised that calling with passion and determination all her life.

Facing page: Detail, Pauline Boutal, 1946 (see Fig. 115, Chapter 11).

8

Chapter 1

A Childhood in Brittany

From childhood, and well before starting school, I would draw. I drew just as any child loves to draw. My grandfather, who produced stainedglass windows, gave me my first lessons. In his workshop, where piled up in corners and on shelves were rolls and rolls of drawings and huge compasses, taller than I was at four or five, I could always find a scrap of paper and some charcoal, and that’s where I spent most of my time before I became a schoolgirl. —Pauline Boutal, n.d.1

1. Vieilles maisons sur un pont, Bretagne [Old houses on a bridge, Brittany], 1971.

The Workshop of Grandfather Cabon, Master Stained-Glass Artist As a child, Pauline Le Goff (Fig. 2) very often found herself in the workshop where her father and grandfather practised the art of producing stained-glass windows. Born on 8 September 1894, the young Pauline preferred playing in the shop with bits of charcoal and other objects she found there2 to staying in the family’s apartment above. And if the master stained-glass artist, her grandfather, sent her upstairs to her grandmother,3 Pauline would immediately reappear on the stone staircase4 from which, fascinated, she would watch the artisans at work preparing the coloured glass (Fig. 3). Sidling up once again to her grandfather, who “took a great interest in me,”5 she would ask him to make her some drawings: And Grand-père, probably often annoyed by my childish questions, got rid of me, bothersome little person, by sending me to sit over by an enormous table!… Then he would draw things for me, because he loved me very much all the same.6 The grandfather watched his granddaughter making sketches of things she had seen in the workshop or in her imagination.7 At times, he would take her on his lap and she would show him what she had drawn; her favourite subject—the donkey:8

2. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1905 (detail).

11

Grand-père, guess what… A donkey! The donkey from the manger, always the same one I worked so hard to copy as faithfully as possible, since Grand-père would unfailingly find a reason to make me start over: the tail was too short, the ears too long, the belly too flat… And while working with me, he would be calm.9

3. Workshop of François Cabon, Pauline’s grandfather, at Lanhouarneau, Brittany, France, c. 1900. Left to right: Jean Corre, Jean-Louis Henaf, François Cabon, and Louis Carrière.

As befits the head of a workshop, her grandfather took the time to give his young apprentice drawing lessons, and he found it completely normal that his granddaughter should feel at home in his workshop. Pauline, first-born of François Le Goff and Louise Cabon, enjoyed the privileges of the eldest child, all the more because her apparently innate interest in drawing made her parents take her seriously: “From my grandfather and my father, I inherited the desire to paint.”10 Her grandfather, François Cabon, had himself joined this workshop of stained-glass artists as an apprentice. It was located in the market town of Lanhouarneau (Fig. 4), thirty kilometres from the city of Brest in western Brittany.11 He had later inherited the business from his master. Upon his return from thirteen years’ service in the navy,12 Jean-François Le Goff, Pauline’s father, also joined the staff of five or six artists.13 He became his father-in-law’s associate after having been his pupil in the trade of painting on glass. It was owing to her admiration for her grandfather and father, watching them work at the art of creating stainedglass windows, that the desire to devote her own life to art became fixed in Pauline Le Goff ’s mind: “My ambition was to become an artist and to paint great windows and murals… with a donkey in every one.”14 In 1900, Grandfather Cabon died. Pauline, who was only six years old, lost not only her dear Grand-père but also her first drawing teacher. The lessons would be quite naturally taken over by her Papa. In her personal writings, Boutal describes the succession of teachers, from Grand-père to Papa: I was still very young when Grand-père left us, and it was Papa’s turn to become my teacher. Papa had more patience than Grandpère and he cured me of donkeys. He also allowed me, on condition of not disturbing him too much, to watch him draw.15

The Production of Stained-Glass Windows The fact of being exposed to the production of stained-glass windows left an indelible impression on young Pauline. For the rest of her life she cherished her memories of what the workshop had produced: “When I visit churches today … I take a special interest in the stained glass. That was the trade I had chosen for myself as a child … my first aspirations.”16 She followed the workshop’s production with keen attention, captivated 13

4. Église Saint-Hervé, with a steeple dating from the Fourteenth century, n.d.

by sketches of floral motifs on paper spread out on the floor17 as well as the masterful drawings of saints displayed on the walls: I was fascinated by all those heads of the Eternal Father, Christ, the Virgin, the saints and angels that would soon be transformed and seemed to be brought to life on the glass by the colour and high heat. I knew ahead of time, from the tilt of the head, the look or the gesture, what position a figure would occupy in the window, because I had started to be able to read a sketch. (Later, much later, in Winnipeg, a sketch would be a dummy-layout to me.)18 This production was thus a part of the child’s everyday experience: “The smell of the paint, the varnish, the dust in boxes of pencils or charcoal, and especially the coloured glass fascinated me.”19 She liked to watch the artisans at work, to see them transfer the plan for a window to the glass and paint it: “This was all of enormous interest to me, and gave me the taste for painting that I still retain.”20 Up close, she would watch the manufacture and the various steps associated with this art form—the preliminary sketches, the mock-up, the colouring plan, the colour preparation and mixing, applying the colour and finally, the finished window: And those colours! Oh, those colours! The sheets of glass neatly stored on the shelves set me to dreaming! The reds, a complete 14

range, like the blues, greens and yellows, went from the gentlest, most delicate and tender tints to the rich, dark ones with deep, mysterious tones…21 Mixing colours would be one of the most deeply ingrained lessons when Boutal became a painter. Also learned at this time was a pride in her origin (Fig. 1): Finally, these memories bring back scenes from my young childhood in Brittany, my early years, and I again see the industrious country life led by both sides of my family.22

The End of an Era Unfortunately, the production of stained-glass windows for churches by Master Cabon’s workshop ceased with the dawn of the new century. The grandfather’s death in 190023 and the separation of Church and State in 1904 put an end to grants from the French government for restoring churches.24 Pauline’s father could no longer ply his trade of stained-glass artist, and so he let himself be seduced by the invitation of Father Hervé Péran, an old friend from the college at Lesneven.25 The Oblate missionary had been charged with colonizing the village of St. Laurent in Manitoba, and he asked Pauline’s father to accompany him to Canada to design and produce the stained-glass windows for the village’s church. Father Péran sent a spokesperson to visit Jean-François, “an extraordinary character sporting a moustache, rather stocky and curiously dressed.”26 He turned up at Lanhouarneau one June day in 1905, with the intention of convincing Jean-François to emigrate to Canada: On his head was a straw hat with a trailing velvet ribbon, in the style of Breton peasants of the time, and his body was swaddled in an overcoat of black, curly fur!… Wearing an outfit like that, at that season of the year, had an obvious promotional aim: they wanted to show the Breton people that in the land of “acres of snow” they knew how to ward off the freezing cold.27 And so, in 1906, Pauline’s father left Brittany to immigrate to St. Laurent and prepare to welcome his family, who came over the following year.

15

Chapter 2

The Breton Emigrants in St. Laurent, Manitoba

My disappointment was wrenching, my heart seized in my chest at the sight of the thin, naked trees that surrounded our house, the stands of grey willows on the plain, the dry, scorched fall grass and the nearby forest where, they said, there were wolves. I was overwhelmed by an anguish that I hid from my parents. Oh! No! At a word I would gladly have retraced my steps, braved the storm, the seasickness, the smells of the stuffy train, the fatigue, finally everything, everything to see my Brittany and my village steeple again! —Pauline Boutal, n.d.1

5. Église de Saint-Laurent, Manitoba [Church in St. Laurent, Manitoba], 1977. Pauline Boutal had a strong affection for this church and, seventy years later, she depicted it as it was when she arrived in Canada in 1907.

A New Country Following a year-long stay in Brest, Pauline Le Goff, aged thirteen (Fig. 6), left France on 30 September 1907.2 She was accompanied by her sisters Marie, eleven, and Suzanne, three, her brother Antoine, nine, her mother, thirty-four, and her grandmother Jeanne Cabon, aged sixty-seven, in her Breton cap.3 They embarked in Le Havre on “the famous Sardinian (Allan Line)”4 and made an “atrocious” lengthy crossing:5 The trip across the ocean was long and very difficult: 14 days! An untrammelled autumn wind blessed us with a storm that lasted 4 days. Obviously, there were many who were sick. But on seeing the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador and passing through the Strait of Belle-Isle, we regained our hope and our appetites and, like children the world over, the little Bretons, some of them slightly shaky, started to run and jump, joyfully shouting “Terre! Terre!” To which the Italians replied: “Terra! Terra!”6 They arrived at the end of October.7 Pauline never forgot her first impressions of the new country: “I can still feel the joy I felt when I first

6. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910.

17

saw the shores of the St. Lawrence.… What a beautiful country would now be ours!”8 The majestic river that was carrying us towards Quebec City, running slowly to the ocean between banks blanketed in rich fall colours, was welcoming us to Canada, in an evening silence softly punctuated by the sound of a riverside church bell. An unforgettable scene!9 Almost as soon as they left the ship, the tired travellers had to get themselves to Montreal to catch the steam train that would carry them to Winnipeg: “Alas! Reserved especially for immigrants and modern for its time, the train had nothing to offer us but wooden benches.”10 During the long, monotonous ride, Pauline watched in dismay as the maple forests changed into a drab, untamed Ontario landscape, and her enthusiasm quickly melted away when she crossed the border from Quebec into Ontario.11 Nothing could have prepared her for the harsh land she saw when they encountered the forests of twisted silhouettes that shaped her first impressions of the Canadian West: To my eye, there was something hostile given off by the ill-defined hamlet of tiny white houses, which seemed haphazardly strung out along the railway, the forest’s margin or the road. That immense, flat, scorched stretch from the trees to the lake, where there stood a few stands of thin, stunted trees, filled me with an inexplicable terror.12 Pauline, who had heard the church recruiters talk about the plains and Lake Manitoba and had delightedly read her father’s letters, had imagined a lush, verdant country. But the vast panorama of black fields torn up by the fall’s plowing was far from “the photographs glimpsed in advertising brochures showing off the natural wealth and beauty of the new land. Well … Here I was faced with the reality.”13 It was while contemplating this unknown territory, as the train was approaching the station in Winnipeg, that Pauline’s gloomy attitude suddenly changed: she was filled with joy at the sight of her dear father (Fig. 7). She would often recall the image of Jean-François Le Goff, after a separation of eighteen months,14 waiting for them at the Winnipeg train station “with a lovely basket of grapes… and all his affection!”15 In 1971, sixty years later, she confided: “I don’t think I knew until that moment how much I loved him.”16 Boutal describes the family’s first moments arriving as new immigrants:

7. Jean-François Le Goff, c. 1910.

18

Finally, Winnipeg! There we found our father, with such joy at being reunited! After we spent the night in the Immigration building

close to the Canadian Pacific station, he took us for a walk all the way up Main Street, very slowly because Grand-mère couldn’t move quickly. I remember a little restaurant at the corner of Water and Main where we were served our first real meal in Canada, marking an end to the rations of sardines, cheese, ham and hardboiled eggs on bread to which we had limited ourselves since leaving Quebec. Compared to that, Winnipeg’s big beef sausages were, to us, a feast!17 The Le Goff family spent two nights in Winnipeg, “in a kind of building that had been very well set up to host immigrants,”18 before undertaking the last leg of their trip, to St. Laurent by train: My imagination and my courage both failed at once, and I was deeply disappointed. I tried to break out of my enormous sadness when I saw, still from the train, rising from one house after another, a thin thread of smoke like breath on a cold day, hinting at the warmth within the privacy of those walls. This country therefore had a soul, a heart. Life must be good in those little dwellings. There, as at home, there were also families, parents and children. Surely we would be able to live here, to love one another…19 As they reached the little village of St. Laurent, Pauline turned her gaze from Lake Manitoba and directed it to a dozen families, their compatriots from Brittany, who had gathered in front of the little station with two “wagons” to await the new immigrants.20 The little log houses all along the road intrigued Pauline, who said to herself, “My God, it’s so small!…. How will we manage in one of those?”21 The family would indeed be living in one of the log cabins, a mile and a half from the village, “facing the lake, by the side of the road.”22 For the arrival of his family, their father had painted the two-room cabin white. The house, “clean and welcoming for a country house of that time, was comfortable and roomy enough for a family like ours: Grand-mère, Papa, Maman (Fig. 8), and four children.”23 The Le Goff family quickly realized that it was “ill prepared to deal with such a hostile climate,”24 and that their new existence as Canadian immigrants would bring some difficult moments: Oh, those winter nights, when the deep cold coloured the nails white and made them pop out over our heads!… Our hair stuck to the sheets, because the steam from our breath had turned to ice!… And the race in nightgowns, in the morning, running down to the kitchen to dress by the stove! We were oh, so happy to find Papa or Grand-mère already at work making the coffee!25

8. Louise (Cabon) Le Goff, c. 1910.

19

An event that could have been a tragedy occurred in the house three days after brother Marcel was born, when “an incredible flurry of snow came to torment us.” It “was snowing on Maman in her bed.”26 In a text written in 1980, Boutal would preserve the vivid memories of her family’s hardships during their first Canadian winter: To top it all off, the beginnings of a fire were detected and almost caused a panic. But each of us proved to be equal to the situation, which averted a catastrophe. Grand-mère had already taken measures to get Maman and the baby out of there to safety. Antoine and I took care of the red-hot stovepipes that had set alight the line of masonry around the outer duct serving as a chimney. Marie, who had the ’flu, jumped out of bed and braved the storm to ask the Rious for some help. Fortunately, the structure wasn’t yet seriously damaged and the two young firemen were able to put out the flames. … When Papa came home that evening, he was shocked and surprised. I think that deep down he was proud of his children.27 Despite the harsh climate, the Le Goff children seemed able to take it all in stride: I loved my first winter in Canada. Wasn’t the snow beautiful? Wasn’t it fun to roll in it? We built houses with blocks of snow, like the Eskimo. We went tobogganing behind the shed. Between chores, we would go for a quick slide. Later, when spring had filled the ditches with water and ice, we had a skating rink in front of the house. Since we had no skates, we slid. Then came the first leaves, the first flowers. All around the well there were violets, real wild violets. We wove them into little bouquets for our modest home. The birds returned from their long trip to the South [sic]: crows, robins, swifts… It felt good, the weather was beautiful. The sun sang, the windowpanes had stopped running with water, the house had finished thawing out. We were already thinking ahead to the pleasures summer would bring: picnics, swimming, gathering fruit, etc. We were crazy, ecstatic with joy. Ah, yes… And when summer arrived, what a disappointment! We couldn’t leave the house without coming back with our faces swollen beyond recognition, chased by a buzzing squadron of those vile pests, mosquitoes.… I could take the winter, the cold and snow; but the mosquitoes, never!28

20

Perhaps the subject of mosquitoes was quietly left out of the advertising that had drawn the Le Goff family to Manitoba. Still, it was thanks to Father Hervé Péran’s active recruitment that a dozen Breton families had moved into the “Métis territory” of St. Laurent.29 Despite the many cultural and social differences between Métis and Breton women, Pauline was struck by a certain resemblance, an image that was burned into her memory and would return to her much later in life (Fig. 9): The women’s silhouettes, Métis and Breton, revealed a certain resemblance: white headcoverings and black shawls… Later, when I saw the beautiful bronze grouping by Canadian artist Suzor-Côté, Women of Caughnawaga, the Saint-Laurent of my childhood rose up before my eyes. Aside from her features, obviously, one of these women became in my imagination a Bretonne, with the cap, apron and shawl. This resemblance had struck me when I arrived in this country, seeing a procession go by. It goes without saying that not all of the Bretonnes wore this costume.30 The St. Laurent of the young Le Goff children was “genuinely warm” to them, especially as there were several other families with children who spoke Breton. In particular, there was the Doll family, with whom they went to play after school and before returning home to perform their routine chores: first, bringing in the wood; then, feeding the two “ferocious” pigs, of which they were scared; and finally, catching the “roaming, fanciful” cow to put her in the barn. “We never knew where to find her. The young Dolls had taught us a number of tricks that allowed us to get through our chores faster. Oh, a child’s imagination!”31

Evenings in the Family Circle Every evening, when we came home from school: first, wood duty. We had to bring in the wood. Then, homework; and after supper, we started in on the village history. We had taken to compiling the history of the people in our village. It was illustrated. We had a pile of drawings. —Pauline Boutal, 1980 32 After supper, in “a lovely little house with two stoves, where we could feel the cold around our feet, we were happy.”33 Pauline, the eldest, would read aloud in Breton from the book La Vie des Saints [The lives of the saints]. As she wrote, “Papa insisted and everyone at the table kept quiet to listen to me.… That is why I never lost my first language.”34

9. Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Women of Caughnawaga, 1924.

21

Under the attentive eye of their father, still seated around the table and using bits of charcoal and wrapping paper, the children would engage “passionately in drawing.”35 The people they knew served as the characters in their stories: A whole imaginary little world came to life in our creations. Real characters were all mixed up together: people from Brest, Lanhouarneau, Saint-Laurent.… Papa would give us advice. We had three villages whose inhabitants knew one another very well; they visited back and forth for baptisms, weddings, burials, fairs, markets and days of atonement. In Marie’s village, there were lots of women with small dogs; she was fond of animals. Antoine’s was inhabited by bizarre characters, something like Fanch Coz and Papa Kerbrat, whose comical antics he enjoyed. In mine, there were many sailors and sailors’ wives.36 Undoubtedly the Le Goff children had fertile imaginations, since they produced numerous drawings that tended to accumulate in the house: “I suspect that now and again Grand-mère or Maman would light the fire in the morning with the help of a piece of our villages.”37 The Le Goffs also maintained their interest in theatrical productions. Everyone in the family threw themselves body and soul into a performance mounted for the inauguration of the new St. Laurent school. To mark the occasion, the Franciscan nuns decided to present two operettas. Pauline’s father set about building the stage and painting a Breton château for the backdrop; her mother sewed the costumes; the children played all the roles. The Le Goff family shone in this little community; but in reality, their father had a hard time working at his trade in the new country: In 1906, my father, newly arrived from France, decorated the priest’s chapel, and in 1907, he was entrusted with finishing the church. It was charming and attractive in its stone mantle, with a white and gold interior and the chancel decorated in the style of old churches in France, and it was much admired by visitors. To Father Péran’s great dismay, there was one thing missing: stainedglass windows.38

The Disappointment of Jean-François Le Goff, Stained-Glass Artist From the time he first arrived in St. Laurent, Pauline’s father had been living with the major disappointment of learning that the installation of stained-glass windows in the St. Laurent church (Fig. 5) had been cancelled for lack of funds. During the family’s two-year stay in St. Laurent, her 22

father worked at various minor jobs to support the family: “He fished out on the lake in winter, and even fell through the ice.”39 Despite the difficult adjustment to the harsh conditions in the new land, Pauline would retain memories of the closeness of her family: “We were happy because we were all together.”40 The hard life of that time seemed easier to accept when we were all together and in good health, bathing in the warmth of family affection. For me, the best Christmas of my life was the first I spent in Canada, despite the poverty encountered by my thirteen-year-old self, suddenly, in a new and not very welcoming community: St-Laurent. … Midnight mass, which I attended for the first time, was a real event for me, and when we returned to the house—a little log house—our small-scale, very simple réveillon, with a cup of coffee and a piece of the cake Maman had made the night before, looked to me like a feast.… But all the same, we celebrated Christmas as a family, with the whole family. Isn’t that beautiful?41 After having completed several months of work decorating the church’s interior, the stained-glass artist found himself in despair over being able to manage his own future, let alone that of his children, in St. Laurent: “Our parents were not farmers … they had to find work elsewhere.”42 Seventeen months after having arrived, the Le Goffs abandoned their cabin in St. Laurent and moved into town, to St. Boniface: The train dropped us at the old Canadian National station on Water Street, where a cart harnessed to two horses was waiting for us. With the help of the driver, my father loaded it with our few pieces of furniture and our bags. Grand-mère, baby Marcel and Suzanne seated themselves somehow atop the load and the rest of the family followed on foot, heading for Saint-Boniface.43

23

Chapter 3

The Le Goff Family in St. Boniface

My first surprise was the Red River, its width and disturbed rawness, and then the Avenue Provencher, with its wooden cobbles, straight perspective, and grass down the middle of the paving. Finally our Rue Ritchot, a new street, a sort of muddy dirt track full of potholes because it had rained the night before, and our little house in the yard of Mr. Prosper Gevaert. We set ourselves up as best we could and stayed there for 2 years. My memories of St-Boniface date from that time. —Pauline Boutal, 1974 1

10. L’épicerie du coin [The grocery store on the corner], c. 1965.

A Proud French-Canadian Community In 1909, in late May or early June,2 the Le Goff family (Fig. 12). moved to St. Boniface, to the Rue Ritchot (Fig. 10). Pauline’s father found work in Winnipeg and managed to rent a house—not very comfortable, with no electricity or indoor bathroom: “However, we had running water. That was already a cut above the house we had just left in St-Laurent.”3 The house was located minutes away from the business establishments lining the Boulevard Provencher: offices, grocery stores, a tobacco vendor, a jeweller (where Pauline’s future husband, Arthur Boutal, would buy her engagement ring),4 and the Hochelaga Bank, which the Le Goff children called “the Chocolate Bank.”5 As Pauline would later say, “I was greatly surprised to discover so many stores and business offices, all displaying French names, at the end of Avenue Provencher next to the bridge, the entrance to St-Boniface.”6 The boulevard also accommodated such important structures as the city hall, post office, fire station, and the Collège de Saint-Boniface. Although the street was distinguished by its many francophone merchants, in the early years of the twentieth century St. Boniface was even more remarkable for a trio of impressive buildings consisting of the cathedral, the archbishop’s residence, and the Grey Nuns’ convent, now the Musée de Saint-Boniface. The monumental cathedral, constructed in 1908 on a

11. Pauline and Suzanne Le Goff and their grandmother Jeanne Cabon, c. 1912. Her grandmother is wearing the typical white bonnet, black shawl, and apron worn by Breton women.

25

12. The Le Goff family, c. 1910. From left to right: Marie, Pauline, Suzanne, Louise (mother), Marcel, and Jean-François (father); Antoine is absent.

13. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910.

26

large tract of land that opens on the west to the cemetery, was located between two extensive properties: to the south, the Grey Nuns’ convent, built of oak logs in 1846; and to the north, the archbishop’s residence, built of stone in 1864. These historical structures, which would become symbolic of the Old St. Boniface, would feature in many of Pauline Boutal’s paintings. This was the proud French-Canadian community in which the Breton émigrés (Fig. 11) found themselves when they arrived in St. Boniface.7 Early in the century, during a period of significant immigration, many people from France settled in the city and soon formed an association called “La Gauloise.” Among them, certain artists rapidly gained a reputation as masters, including Paul Salé, the cathedral’s organist, and two music teachers, the Viscount de la Roche Aymon, and Academy officer René Brun.8 They organized banquets, plays and musicals, excursions, and picnics. During the summer vacation, Pauline worked in a restaurant on Water Street whose owners were French.9 In September, because her father was still without employment, she did not join her sisters and brother when they returned to school (Fig. 13). As the eldest, according to custom, she was expected to find a job of her own and resign herself to the end of her school years:

I had just turned 15 when I began to work, of necessity, because we were starting to go hungry. My parents would have wanted to give me more schooling, but as the eldest of five children, along with Grand-mère, Papa and Maman, I had to resolve to make the sacrifice. And then, I was happy to be able to help my parents. We never actually went hungry, but I can assure you, it was a struggle.10

Pauline Le Goff, Apprentice Typesetter In the fall of 1909, Pauline Le Goff was taken on as an apprentice typesetter by the newspaper Le Nouvelliste, located on Garry Street in Winnipeg.11 She earned a salary of three dollars a week12 and was responsible for the reproduction of articles by making prints from assembled lines of raised type.13 To do this, she said she had to learn to read the material backwards.14 She got along well with the paper’s staff (Fig. 14) and, as in her grandfather’s workshop in Brittany, she again found herself at the centre of artistic production, surrounded by male artisans. Unlike the art of making stained-glass windows, printing was viewed as an innovative technology. Nonetheless, the finances of the enterprise, which from 1910 to 1911 counted over 1,200 subscribers,15 extended only to starvation wages, and the newspaper’s success depended on the generous contributions of the editor and even its apprentice.16 For the next five years, Pauline Le Goff worked at typesetting in this small print shop, surrounded by Frenchmen who had thrown themselves into journalism along with all of the related tasks: writing articles, folding and addressing the papers by hand, carrying the mailbag to the post office, or pushing the cart to the printer’s.17 Le Nouvelliste was printed by the Winnipeg Free Press, since its staff had only a single handpress and a few cases of type to work with. But they “overflowed with youth and good humour.”18 In spite of the long list of tasks, the staff enjoyed meal breaks together. In an article written in 1980, Boutal describes a typical lunch at Le Nouvelliste: Brun, Boutal, de Sannes and I would get together for lunch. I was in charge of buying the food. Oh, it wasn’t complicated. A loaf of bread, a bit of sausage, butter and cheese. When we were rich, a sweet or some fruit, or perhaps an hors d’oeuvre.19

14. The Staff of Le Nouvelliste, c. 1910–1911. Left to right: Charles Case, Arthur Boutal, Hector Bergevin, Pauline Le Goff, and Norbert Berriault.

27

Chapter 4

Arthur Boutal

Big change in my life. I was working in a print shop that published a French-language newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, edited by a young Frenchman, quite eccentric and Bohemian and who scared the wits out of me, because he rarely spoke to me and I never quite knew whether he was being serious or making a joke. He would say the most dire things with the same tone and the very same expression as when he was telling the funniest stories. His name was Arthur Boutal. —Pauline Boutal, n.d.1

15. Arthur Boutal, c. 1927–1930.

At the centre of her new group of friends was the publisher of Le Nouvelliste (Fig. 15), a tall young man of twenty. Pauline (Fig. 16), who was of small stature and still wore her hair in braids down her back,2 was very impressed by this “young Frenchman.”3 Arthur Boutal (Fig. 17) was born in 1889, in Seyches, Lot-et-Garonne, and grew up in Angoulême. In 1904, at the age of fifteen, he emigrated to Manitoba. On arriving, he briefly tried his hand at farming and construction before again taking up his trade of printing foreman. In 1907, he became one of the founders of the “noble enterprise” of Le Nouvelliste, a newspaper he acquired for the sum of twenty-five dollars.4 Arthur Boutal had trained as a printer in France and, according to Pauline Boutal, he had “distinguished himself as a real artist of the trade.”5 He had also taken art courses in France (Fig. 18), and he noticed that his young employee often made small sketches (Fig. 19): The first of my drawings he saw he found very interesting, and his advice and encouragement soon gave rise to a sympathy and friendship between us.6

The Winnipeg Art Club Arthur encouraged Pauline to take evening classes as a way to develop her talent, and he even gave her five dollars for the registration fee at the

16. Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910.

29

Winnipeg Art Club.7 When Pauline, then fifteen, attended her first evening art class, it held quite a surprise for her: He encouraged me to take courses and, for the first time in my life, even today I remember it with great emotion, I entered a classroom where, like the other students, I would be working on life studies with a live model standing in front of an easel, a real one! 8 In 1910, the unexpected presence of a nude model in her first drawing class did not diminish her desire to take courses. Just the opposite. Pauline Le Goff did not fit the image of a young French Catholic girl from St. Boniface at the turn of the century, “made to stay at home.”9 Pauline, who wanted to have a career in commercial art, dared to take classes in Winnipeg, in the evening; what’s more, she dared to take classes in life drawing with a nude model.10 At the Winnipeg Art Club, which was an association of ambitious professionals, Pauline met other artists, such as Louise Alexander, Adeline Baxter, George Fawcett, and Sammy Zerebrin.11 In particular she would remember Harold Foster, who became famous in the 1920s for his Tarzan illustrations, because he “often bailed me out when I was wrestling with the challenges posed by a study in anatomy.”12 Pauline Le Goff ’s drawings from this period pay close attention to the subject’s expression. For example, Facteur, U.S. Postal Service [Postman, U.S. Postal Service] (Fig. 20), her only oil painting from 1909, is rendered in a narrative style. When compared to an illustration by Charles Comfort that appeared on the cover of the Hudson’s Bay Company calendar,13 it is clear that Pauline Le Goff was well acquainted with popular themes in illustration. It was in fact owing to illustration that women artists could then gain a serious artistic reputation—for their originality and their eye for fashion.14 In addition, there was plenty of work for women artists, who could expect to be well paid. This was the context for Pauline Le Goff ’s venture into illustration. 17. Arthur Boutal, c. 1912.

Illustrated Books on the World Market It is to be noted that early in the century, just as Pauline Le Goff was taking an interest in illustration, a new style of books and magazines that carried illustrations as a dominant feature were starting to show up on the world market. The artist would recall her pleasure on discovering these books:

18. Arthur Boutal, n.d.

30

That little store at the corner of Main and Water, on the way from Saint-Boniface to Winnipeg, a route I took morning and evening, where you had to go down two steps when you entered because the

19. Dis donc Bérubé, as-tu des r’tââilles?... [Hey, Bérubé, got any scraps?], c. 1909–1914.

20. Facteur, U.S. Postal Service [Postman, U.S. Postal Service], 1909. Pauline Boutal painted this scene at the age of fifteen. The narrative scene is typical of calendar illustrations of the time, like those of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

21. Victoria Day, dated 29 May 1913.

store was below the level of the sidewalk. The store […], which was called the Librairie Keroack, held a very wide-ranging assortment of attractive books. Invariably, I would stop in whenever I had twenty-five cents left over at the end of the week.15 There can be no doubt that she was deeply impressed by book illustration, and her sketchbooks show the strength of her interest in the illustrator’s trade. She not only saved illustrations in her sketchbooks, she also practised by reproducing the originals, as seen in her pencil copy of a postcard (Fig. 22). With the goal of perfecting her drawing always in mind, Pauline Le Goff studied humorous illustrations by well-known artists. In 1914, she produced the ink drawing titled Victoria Day (Fig. 21), a scene showing children caught in their own mischief. The drawing was possibly modelled in part on illustrations by Poulbot,16 who was famous for his drawings of children in Montmartre. It is not surprising that she would have admired that particular illustrator,17 who based his scenes on people he saw on the street. Like Poulbot, Pauline would develop a habit of studying the people in her circle to capture their image and then later creating characters from memory.

22. Sketchbook, c. 1910.

33

Comical Drawings and Political Cartoons After 1911, Le Nouvelliste became Le Soleil de l’Ouest. Pauline Le Goff continued to create illustrations, using the staff members as her models. One of these illustrations, Le typographe [The typographer] (Fig. 24) was published in the newsletter La Petite Feuille de Saint-Boniface in 1912:18 At that point my eye was sharp enough and my hand did not entirely lack the skill to produce comical drawings, if not caricature. At the print shop, I entertained myself by sketching my colleagues… and … my boss. Also for amusement, I contributed to a small pamphlet that was published irregularly and in a completely outlandish style. Almost every issue included one of my drawings.19 The young illustrator soon acquired “a certain celebrity among the friends of Le Nouvelliste.”20 Her humorous drawings, like Monsieur Quêteur et Monsieur Quêteux [The begging and the beggar] (Fig. 25) from 1912, attracted the attention of Liberal representative Horace Chevrier, who asked her several times to “caricature the leaders or candidates from the opposing party.”21 Because Le Soleil de l’Ouest was a Liberal paper22 in competition with Le Manitoba, a Conservative paper from St. Boniface, and Chevrier was an owner of Le Nouvelliste, after some hesitation Pauline agreed to contribute her talents to an election campaign.23 She sometimes signed her pieces “Badigeon” (Fig. 23) because “Pauline was too easily recognized.”24 Political cartooning presents certain challenges. For one thing, readers should be able to guess the identity of the targeted figure immediately, which calls for precision; for another, the drawing should capture a personality trait, a comical aspect or typical behaviour of the individual in question, which is not always easy for the artist: Obviously, more than one of the subjects stymied me. When you only know the person from a photograph, that’s inevitable. But I made it up again whenever luck sent an ideal subject my way, such as the moustache of Judge Joseph Bernier, who I believe was the provincial secretary at the time.25

34

23. L’instituteur [The teacher], signed Badigeon, c. 1910–1916.

24. Le typographe [The typesetter], 19 December 1912.

25. Monsieur Quêteur et Monsieur Quêteux [The begging and the beggar], 5 September 1912.

Chapter 5

Pauline and Arthur’s Engagement

I often heard the people around me talking about theatre. I realized that I didn’t know much, so I did not often join in the conversation; I let others do the talking. Eventually, I began to like the theatre more because my husband also loved it. On my side, I spoke up to share my interest in painting. He liked painting very much, that is, he did a little himself, but knowing that I was doing some drawing really got him interested. We communicated. We critiqued each other’s ideas. —Pauline Boutal, 1980 1

26. Pauline Le Goff, certified photograph, c. 1916.

Since Arthur had no family in St. Boniface and his parents still lived in Angoulême, he would often visit the Le Goff home, where he was warmly received (Fig. 27). The Le Goff family were voracious readers with subscriptions to many French magazines, and they loved to converse with Arthur,2 who had literary inclinations. But most of all, they shared with him their love of theatre. It was in fact in her grandfather’s stained-glass workshop in Brittany that the young Pauline had received her initiation into stagecraft, with the workshop’s enormous table serving as the platform for her first experience of bringing a character vividly to life:3 My mother just loved the theatre. I think she passed that on to us. My two brothers were also very fond of it, as well as two of my sisters and myself. I believe that in school, in France, I played small roles in stage plays.4 And so Arthur, an only child5 who had been involved in high-school theatrics in Angoulême,6 happily took up with this cultured, welcoming family. A warm friendship would grow between him and Pauline (Fig. 28, 29), grounded in their shared passion for the dramatic arts.

27. Arthur Boutal and Pauline Le Goff, c. 1910.

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28. Arthur and the Le Goff family, c. 1910. Left to right: Arthur, Pauline, Marie, Antoine, Marcel, and Suzanne.

Arthur and Pauline, Theatre-Lovers In 1910 in St. Boniface, there was no theatre to speak of. There were shows put on by the priests at the Collège de Saint-Boniface, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, and the French club, La Gauloise, which limited itself to one-act plays.7 Therefore, under the direction of René Brun, Le Nouvelliste’s editor, Arthur, Pauline and a band of friends put on Paul Gavault’s La petite chocolatière for Le Club dramatique français de Winnipeg.8 The Le Goff family took an active part: Madame Le Goff designed and sewed the costumes and Pauline played her first part at the Winnipeg Theatre on Notre Dame Street, just steps away from the famous Walker Theatre. Pauline recalled that their choice of material was a rather bold one: It was the first time local actors were performing a French play on a major stage in Manitoba’s capital. Shortly before, the famous tragedian Sarah Bernhardt had been acclaimed for her rendition, and being compared to her might have been disastrous. But our success was even greater than we’d hoped.9

29. Pauline Le Goff and Arthur Boutal, c. 1910.

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And if Pauline, at the age of sixteen, had the courage to play such a part on a major Winnipeg stage, it was because of Arthur: “Arthur is most enthusiastic about the theatre. He persuaded me.”10 Together with their circle of friends from Le Nouvelliste (Fig. 30), Pauline and Arthur regularly attended performances in Winnipeg’s theatres. The early twentieth century saw a number of English-language venues in the city,11 such as

30. Pauline, her father Jean-François Le Goff, third from left, and Arthur Boutal, sixth from left, c. 1910.

the Grand Theatre, on the corner of Main and Jarvis, and still more prominent, the Walker Theatre, where The Permanent Players presented a new show each week from September to May, alternating comedy with tragedy. Pauline and Arthur were ardent lovers of theatre and threw themselves eagerly into its exploration. Pauline’s parents did not discourage their regular attendance; it’s even possible that they went themselves on occasion. According to Pauline, her mother was nonetheless a bit strict on that score, since she found that seeing a play every two weeks was quite enough.12 That said, it was not common at that time for a mother to display such broadmindedness where the theatre was concerned. It was also unusual for a sixteen-year-old girl to perform at the Walker Theatre and visit English-language theatres in the company of men. Pauline’s activities (Fig. 31) did not go unnoticed in the francophone community. Anonymous letters to the editor of La Liberté were intended to remind young girls of their spiritual direction, since “a passion for the theatre is a certain cause of moral decadence”!13 According to columnists with resounding pen names, such as “Françoise des Bois,” “Mère-Grand” or “Jacqueline des Érables,” good girls should find it “a duty and a pleasure to devote their brief moments of leisure to helping their mothers. They do not, night after night, consume the costly pleasures of the theatre, but prefer the simple, healthy joys of family life.”14 The same article in La Liberté warned young men to be wary of the conduct of young women who went to the theatre: Moreover, taking these young ladies out is very expensive. First, the theatre three or four times a week, if not every night. And after the 39

31. Pauline Le Goff, right, and an unidentified person, c. 1910.

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performance, a small supper at a restaurant; and these young ladies are not content with an ice cream, but usually select the costliest items: a “Club” sandwich with coffee, followed by chocolate soufflé. And you must of course finish off these repasts by purchasing a box of the best candies. It all adds up!15 It is certain that Pauline regularly attended theatre performances. Did she eat “Club sandwiches?” That we can’t know, but what is clear is that Pauline and Arthur had a passion for life and its artistic expression.

Pauline and Arthur’s Wedding Arthur and Pauline’s lives were upset in 1914 by the First World War, when Arthur (Fig. 32) had to leave St. Boniface to join his regiment at Poitiers in France. Before leaving, thinking that the war would last a mere six months, he asked his beloved to marry him when he returned. After waiting for two years, on 4 January 1916, Pauline, then twenty-two (Fig. 26), undertook to travel by boat to France to meet Arthur and marry him there. A marriage announcement appeared in the Winnipeg Tribune, titled “Wed St. Boniface Girl in France,” which confirmed that Pauline Le Goff ’s talents had already been recognized: By a letter received last Monday in St. Boniface, it was learned that Arthur Boutal, former manager of the ‘Soleil de l’Ouest’, Donald street, Winnipeg, and now a reservist on the French eastern firing line, will be given a few days furlough and permission from the colonel to go to Angouleme to be married next Saturday, to Miss Pauline Legoff [sic] of St. Jean Baptiste street, St. Boniface, who has been the guest for over a month of Mr. Boutal’s parents. Miss Pauline Legoff is a good printer, a clever caricaturist and a good painter, both in oil and watercolors.16 Pauline Le Goff and Arthur Boutal celebrated their marriage in the Church of St. Boniface in Angoulême, Charente, on April 12.17 The newlyweds spent several days at Limoges with friends, and then Arthur returned to the front, where his regiment had been deployed for battle at Ypres, La Somme, and Verdun. For two years, while she awaited Arthur’s return, his bride was employed at Angoulême’s municipal offices,18 where she took care of refugees and military pay and allowances. She made a number of friends through her work, notably Suzanne Deleval, with whom she maintained a correspondence until 1989.19 For diversion, the young artist visited museums and art galleries in Angoulême, Limoges, and Bordeaux: “These exhibitions renewed my enthusiasm and energy for work, especially when they brought a new discovery.”20

32. Arthur Boutal, c. 1914–1917.

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33. Gens de la h… otte [The upper crust], c. 1912–1914

During these two years, Boutal produced a large number of caricatures (Fig. 33) and created small comical scenes that caught local figures in action (Fig. 34). The perspective or body proportions are not always exact; the illustrator’s struggle to get them right can be felt. And so Boutal kept on drawing and drawing. In 1917, Arthur sustained a wound to his leg (Fig. 35). It was not serious, but because an infection set in, he did not return to the front. He continued to serve until he received a medical discharge.21 The newlywed couple discussed the possibilities of beginning their life together in their native country France, near Arthur’s family, or returning to their adoptive country Canada, near Pauline’s family. In an interview for CKSB that aired 2 February 1972, Boutal explained: I would have liked to stay in France if we had both found suitable work, but my husband preferred to return to Canada. For myself, I was glad to come back, and had no deep regrets on leaving France.22 On 31 December 1917, Pauline and Arthur left for St. Boniface. Their return, after such a long separation, was an occasion for rejoicing. Arthur reconnected happily with his friends, whom he called his “giblets,” and Pauline with her family, in particular her youngest sister Christiane, who was their goddaughter:

34. Caricature d’Arthur [Caricature of Arthur], and an unknown person, c. 1916–1917.

I can still see her at 3 years old, when we arrived from France, my husband and I, intimidated by our presence and, in our bed the morning after we arrived, asking me, “Is it true that you’re my big sister?” She no longer remembered me, since I had left a few days before her first birthday. When she saw my husband for the first time, her godfather, she didn’t trust him at all. She pressed up against me and drew a feather, pulled from a pillow I guess, between her toes. Coussie would be 3 years old just a few days later. We celebrated a little, not much, because we weren’t rich, but with a sweet new joy. Just think of it!23 Arthur and Pauline re-established contact with their circle of friends. Arthur lost no time in resuming his trade as a printer-publisher. Le Soleil de l’Ouest had shut down during the war, but Arthur found employment with the Empire, the weekly newspaper in Virden, Manitoba.24 A few months later, he was hired to do the linotyping for Western Canada Publishers,25 which produced the newspaper La Liberté.26 Pauline, eager to use her talents as an artist, did not follow her husband into the printing sector, but instead looked for work as an illustrator. 35. Arthur Boutal, c. 1914–1917.

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Chapter 6

The Eaton’s Catalogue at Brigdens

This time I was luckier in my job search. In February 1918, in the employ of Brigden’s [sic] of Winnipeg, I was working as a fashion illustrator preparing the Eaton’s catalogue, which finally allowed me to free up my art. —Pauline Boutal, 1974 1

36. Novembre [November], 1917.

At the beginning of the century, at just the time when Pauline Boutal (Fig. 37) was looking for work, the graphic arts played a central role in the development of Winnipeg, which was then Canada’s third largest urban centre. The city’s business leaders were recruiting artists to make it “the Chicago of the North.”2 In 1913, the Winnipeg Industrial Bureau sponsored the Winnipeg School of Art, where commercial art was given an important place in the curriculum.3 Many commercial arts firms were established in the city just to meet the growing demand created by advertising.

Brigdens of Winnipeg The firm of Brigdens of Toronto opened a branch in Winnipeg in 19144 to illustrate the catalogue the T. Eaton Company was producing for its clients in western Canada.5 Until 1976, the year the catalogue ceased to be issued, its detailed descriptions and exact drawings allowed customers to make their selections without having to visit the store in person. In small towns where ordering from the Eaton’s catalogue was the only way to obtain clothing and other kinds of merchandise, it was even possible to get to know your neighbours’ buying habits. John Brehl describes this dynamic in a Winnipeg Tribune story from February 1969: People knew how much someone had paid for a particular item, since they had all received a copy of the Eaton’s catalogue. And so, following

37. Pauline Boutal, c. 1910.

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a wedding or a social gathering, the women would rush home to check the price of the new dresses and hats the others were wearing.6 The Eaton’s catalogue was a monumental production; as a result, Brigdens hired from sixty to 100 artists, as well as using the services of specialists in Chicago and New York during peak seasons.7 Like many other artists, Boutal took advantage of this opportunity to launch a career in graphic arts. Boutal approached Brigdens early in 1918, and indications are that she presented a portfolio in keeping with the taste of the time. In the illustration titled Novembre (Fig. 36), she demonstrates a good knowledge of anatomy and of drawing technique using ink and watercolours. In her representation of a group of figures (Fig. 40), she skilfully captures their movements and interaction. The young artist, who was then twenty-two, was highly qualified to become a fashion illustrator. When Brigdens hired young artists, they were obliged to gain experience before applying their artistic talents and to make their way up the ladder rung by rung. A photograph shows us that our young artist was asked to model hats (Fig. 38). John Phillips,8 a contemporary of Boutal who worked with her for many years, remembers his own start at Brigdens, when his job was to change the water for the watercolour artists. The artist Philip Surrey started out in the 1920s mopping floors.9 However, Boutal had the advantage of her artistic training. After a brief six weeks of apprenticeship earning two dollars a week, she was given a place among the top artists at a weekly salary of ten dollars. She was also given an office,10 unlike those who worked in rows of cubicles in the general room. Her office, which was eight feet by ten, was located on the building’s west side and lit by a bulb in the ceiling. It was furnished with a drafting table that had been stained over the years with India ink and charcoal, a small kitchen table, a chair, and a wastebasket. The English-speaking staff at Brigdens would call her “Madame Boutal.”11 The respectful tone of address was not surprising, given her French and European origins, all the more since Paris was the world leader of fashion and she had just returned from a stay in France. When Phillips started his own firm, Phillips-Gutkin and Associates, in 1947, he included Boutal’s photograph on his advertising poster and added the following caption: “Pauline Boutal, Fashion Consultant” (Fig. 39). As Phillips maintains, “At that time we had the impression that someone like Madame Boutal would give a certain prestige to a graphic arts company.”12

Fashion Illustration

38. Pauline Boutal (detail), c. 1918.

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Boutal specialized in fashion illustration for women’s clothing13 because her work displayed meticulous technique. First and foremost, she had to

master the use of brush and ink in order to outline the human body in a style that was both free and precise. She then had to shape the figures with careful shading, to make them stand out from the background and create a sense of depth. Finally, she followed the high-fashion drawing trends of the time by making the figures appear slender (Fig. 41).14 Despite the altered body proportions used in fashion illustration, the artist was obliged to display a thorough knowledge of anatomy in addition to creativity. Some artists who worked at Brigdens reported that Boutal, despite all the trade’s technical requirements and constraints, demonstrated a personal style and produced fashion illustrations that were both realistic and professional, at the same time making them lively and striking (Fig. 40). John Phillips recalled that Madame Boutal “didn’t copy models, she drew them from her imagination.”15 We know that people she passed on the street often served as a source of inspiration.16 Phillips reported that she had a photographic memory and, after a single glance at someone, could express their movement in a simple gesture. With a stroke of the pen, she could bring her figures to life.

Producing the Eaton’s Catalogue While Brigdens staff was made up of qualified artists with individual specializations, producing the catalogue was a team effort. First of all, the artistic director of the time, Percy Edgar,17 oversaw production of the entire publication as well as the layout of each page. In fact, each page was treated like a poster, with particular attention to black and white space, how titles and copy were placed and the illustration of the background. Once the layout of the page had been set, he conveyed his ideas to the illustrators and production began. At that point, Boutal would go to work, making multiple little sketches about two inches square on tracing paper. She drew single figures or groups in a variety of poses until the composition was satisfactory. During catalogue production season, she was required to complete an impressive number of drawings before the final selection was made for the fashion pages. At the end of the day, the floor was often littered with balled-up sheets of paper and rejected drawings.18 If the artistic director was not satisfied with a drawing, it had to be started over again. The trends in fashion drawing for catalogues were set by major magazines. Brigdens therefore made the most recent fashion publications available to its artists before launching into the production of a new catalogue. Boutal was expected to stay current with what was being worn and done at that moment, including hairstyles and makeup, as well as the latest in accessories—shoes, purses, and hats.

39. Pauline Boutal, fashion illustrator, 1947. Photo used to promote the firm of PhillipsGutkin and Associates.

40. Eaton’s Catalogue, Spring & Summer, 1937.

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During the rush season for catalogue preparation, fashion illustration was parcelled out to the artists and could be produced in an assembly line. But Boutal was spared that process: “I had preferential treatment while at Brigden’s [sic]. I was only asked to work on my specialty, which was people.”19 Some artists would draw only heads, like Hall Smith,20 who did that through the 1920s and 1930s. He liked to say that he was the Head Artist at Brigdens. Then again, Edith Benson Botterill, who worked there in the 1930s, considered herself lucky when she could draw heads, since she usually drew only legs.21 The less specialized artists would take care of details, such as the patterns in fabrics: “It’s finicky work that will make you blind.”22 Altogether, the artists were obliged to imitate the types represented in the fashion magazines and follow the rules of mass-production in their drawing. Producing the catalogue showed off the talents of the Brigdens staff, but since they were part of an assembly line, it is hard to identify the work of each individual artist. For one thing, they did not sign their pieces; moreover, neither Bridgens23 nor Eaton’s24 seems to have kept the originals. We can nonetheless attempt to identify certain drawings that might have been completed by Boutal. One illustration (Fig. 44) can be credited to her owing to the linear style—the quality of the stroke and the use of precise lines to define the shapes. There is also a drawing (Fig. 42) executed with a sure touch in the individual style associated with her work. As well, some of the props, in particular the desk and its angle of placement, are the same in the two pieces. In a third drawing (Fig. 43), it is possible to deduce, from the obvious similarity between the pencil drawing and the published image, that the illustration could have been done by Pauline Boutal.

The Brigdens Artists

41. Eaton’s Catalogue, Fall & Winter, 1934.

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Boutal commented that at Brigdens she worked alongside many artists of varied talents, such as Fritz Brandtner, Eric Bergman, and Charles Comfort. Comfort called the graphic arts firm the “Brigden School of Art.”25 Some of the artists whose specialty was drawing, like Boutal, did not only work on the catalogue, but also illustrated stories for Brigdens (Fig. 47, 48). Despite the creative atmosphere, Boutal’s description indicates that the work was long, hard, and unremitting: “It was night and day, every night overtime, Sunday and Saturday afternoons… It was really like we were working like slaves.”26 Nonetheless, John Phillips remembers it as a good place to work, despite the heavy load.27 Naturally, the creative spirit was not limited to the assigned tasks. According to some, there was a feeling of camaraderie among staff members and the artists liked to play tricks on each other. For example, they made caricatures, as in

42. Arthur Boutal, c. 1928–1929

44. Eaton’s Catalogue, Spring & Summer, 1925.

43. Kay Star, c. 1925.

Boutal’s sketch The Dirty Painters (Fig. 46). In the cartoon Mrs. Boutal Leaves for the DRAMA FESTIVAL (Fig. 45), it is Boutal, this time, who is lampooned by her “cell mate,” Ligie Jones.28 It shows her loaded down with baggage, preparing to board a train that will take her to the Dominion Drama Festival. The Brigdens artists had a strong bond that was grounded in their passion for art. Arnold Brigden, the branch’s director, appreciated his artists’ talents and amassed a rich collection of their works, some by Boutal, which he hung in his home on Winnipeg’s Wellington Crescent. In 1974, when she saw the exhibition titled The Brigden Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Boutal was agreeably surprised to find her watercolour Gentiane in the show: A tiny little watercolour, a Rocky Mountain gentian by… Pauline Boutal, who has a story to tell about it. Upon returning from one of his trips to the Rockies, mountaineer and collector Arnold Brigden planted some sprigs in his garden that he had brought back with him. One morning, he came down to the studio and visited me in my room. In his buttonhole was a gentian, magnificent. He asked me if I wanted to do a watercolour of it. I did, and I gave it to him afterwards. I have to think that he considered it to be of some value, because he kept it in his collection. It gave me pleasure to see it again. Original enough, although small, but life-sized, just the same; a flower is not an elephant. And it didn’t look bad in the collection.29 Arnold Brigden, who did not want to lose his good artists during less busy stretches, would cover their fees for courses at the Winnipeg School of Art. As a result, he not only won the artists’ loyalty but also, on their return, got the benefit of their increased expertise. Boutal took advantage of her employer’s generous offer to study at the school with such outstanding artists as Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Alexander Musgrove, and Franz Johnson.30

45. Ligie Jones, Mrs. Boutal leaves for the DRAMA FESTIVAL!, c. 1935.

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46. The Dirty Painters, n.d. Caricature of Brigdens staff members.

47. Mimi, Mimi! – Illlustration, n..d.

48. Illustration pour un conte – Époque de la Révolution [Illustration for a story – Revolutionary Era], n.d.

Chapter 7

The Winnipeg School of Art and the Manitoba Society of Artists

My work, fashion illustration, required a fairly extensive knowledge of anatomy, especially that of women. And so I attempted the nude in pastels. With pastels, which are fairly similar to the charcoal and pencil to which I was so accustomed, I could achieve the colour I had been dreaming of for so long! —Pauline Boutal, n.d. 1

49. Martine, c. 1934.

The Winnipeg School of Art Pauline Boutal attended courses at the Winnipeg School of Art (WSA) for six or seven years,2 and in 1921, she had classes with the school’s director, Alexander Musgrove.3 Musgrove had studied at the Glasgow School of Art and was known for his watercolours of picturesque churches and houses, as well as for Manitoba landscapes. He gave great importance to preparatory drawings and would make little sketches that served as notes on shapes and contrasts between light and shadow.4 It is hard to know for certain whether it was following Musgrove’s course that Boutal began to produce watercolour landscapes, such as Trees on Shore, Lake Winnipeg, or acquired the habit of sketching the effects of light. She also took classes with the artist Franz Johnston, who was a member of the Group of Seven.5 Johnston, the WSA’s director from 1921 to 1924, was interested primarily in landscapes and painted in a tranquil style that found favour with the public. Boutal’s painting La rivière La Salle (Fig. 54) seems to have been created for such a course. She also worked with George Overton, who taught at the WSA from 1926 to 1930.

Pastel Drawings of Nudes Boutal first started to use pastels at the WSA, where she also attended anatomy classes. She was already expert at linear drawing, and now pastels

50. Calendulas, 1930.

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51. John (ten years old), 1931.

52. Jean Boutal, c. 1937.

introduced her to colour (Fig. 50): “Pastels meant color and had the touch of pencil. They were refreshing. When I’d start to do pastel work, it seems I’d begin to breathe again.”6 Some of her pastels of nudes date from the 1930s and were probably produced for WSA courses. One dated 1934 would appear to be based on her coursework because of the subject, a portrait in the style of Vermeer. This pastel, titled Martine (Fig. 49), was in fact compared to a Vermeer by John Mouton, Cultural Attaché to France’s Embassy in Ottawa.7 Like Vermeer, Boutal had chosen an interior setting with light coming through a window on the left. In the middle of an everyday activity, a woman pauses to dream a little. The blues and yellows also evoke Vermeer, but in contrast to his painting The Milkmaid, Boutal presented her subject half disrobed. She had a particular interest in how the light would sculpt her models’ curves and round shapes. Boutal’s mastery of depicting the human form was due to her experience in anatomical drawing. She used fluid lines to obtain a remarkable realism with pastels (Fig. 51, 52). One of her concerns was to reproduce skin tones faithfully, and so she would progressively apply skin colour by means of lines. Rather than smudging the pastel for a 54

53. Lisette (Zizi), 1931.

softer effect, she worked in parallel lines that were repeated in the background, to set up a rhythm and give the composition greater unity: As a rule, I don’t smudge for effect, but work in lines. Pastels must look airy. When they’re down, they’re down. You can’t tamper with them or they will become spotty, chalky.8 The artist was very precise in her drawings of the human body, which remains one of the most difficult subjects to render. She made a marvellous response to the challenge of drawing a reclining figure, as in the pastel The Model; the original has unfortunately been lost but a photograph still exists. Boutal was especially successful in representing perspective, offering a foreshortened view of certain parts of the body, such as the shoulder, arm, or leg. The drape of fabric would echo the diagonal line made by the tip of the foot, hands, and head to create a balanced composition. An exception is the pastel work titled Nicole (Fig. 55), with the subject seen straight on. Even if the model’s gaze is directed towards the viewer, there is nothing suggestive in the pose. In fact, the leg is placed

54. La rivière La Salle [The La Salle River], c. 1925–1930.

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55. Nicole, c. 1930–1939.

56. Nu, une étude [Nude, a study], 1939.

in such a way as to hide the pubic area—Boutal did not work with sexual symbols. In this case she uses props to create harmony in the colours, with a pale blue backdrop, bluish veil, and pink chair. The artist would occasionally hire professional models, but usually she painted young women of her acquaintance. In 1934, Françoise Tremblay (Fig. 49) posed for the nude at the window and, in 1936, her sister Janine for a pastel. She would also call on young actresses from Le Cercle Molière, the theatre company; for a 1939 painting (Fig. 56), there is reason to believe that the model was Hélène Provost, who appeared in Poil de carotte, a play staged that year.9 In a pastel dated 1938, the model is Anna Leclerc, a close friend, who worked behind the scenes at Le Cercle Molière from 1933 to 1955. Boutal’s attitude was one of complete discretion and she did not reveal the identity of her models. Furthermore, she would draw them in profile or from the back, rarely head-on, with no trace of erotic intent. It remains amazing that these young women would have posed in the nude during the 1930s and 1940s in St. Boniface. That said, being one of Pauline Boutal’s models must therefore have been an honour— she was a woman painter, she was respected and admired by the community, and among the painters at the Manitoba Society of Artists, she had acquired a reputation as a serious artist for her nude pastel drawings.

57. Tracy, c. 1937–1939.

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The Manitoba Society of Artists During the 1930s, Boutal submitted several pastel nudes to the MSA’s exhibitions. In 1936, she was granted an associate membership, and she sat on the jury with Newton Brett in 1936 and 1938.10 When the MSA’s tenth exhibition was held in 1936, president Walter J. Phillips commented that two of Pauline Boutal’s pastels, Zizi (Fig. 53) and Study of a Model, “may be cited as further examples of technical excellence notable for the refinement of good drawing.”11 The following year, in his report on the exhibition, he noted that “I have not as yet found an opportunity to mention Madame Boutal’s pastel ‘The Model’, by which she maintains her reputation as a sound painter.” In an article titled “Art in Manitoba,” which he wrote for the Saturday Night issue of 9 April 1938, Phillips remarked that “the regular exhibitors for the most part do themselves proud,” and he named a small group of well-known Winnipeg artists: FitzGerald, Bergman, Edgar, Musgrove, Osborne, and Pauline Boutal, who had submitted two pastel nudes. The fact that Phillips included her in this group indicates that he must have held Boutal’s pastels in high regard. From 1937 to 1939, Boutal also had sculpting courses at the private studio of Byllee Fay Lang.12 As well as having taken courses at the WSA, Lang had studied art in Berlin, Rome, Paris, and Spain before moving back to Winnipeg. It was possibly while taking one of her courses that Boutal sculpted a head in plaster titled Tracy (Fig. 57). It is the only one of Boutal’s sculptures to have been found.13 Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald

58. Arthur, c. 1930.

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Of all the art teachers with whom Pauline Boutal studied, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald was the only one who became the subject of negative comments from his student. According to her, FitzGerald did not communicate well with his pupils and declared technique to be secondary.14 He “refused to teach any method”15 and claimed that every artist should be able to represent his own ideas in a manner that is unique to him.16 Nonetheless, it was principally through FitzGerald’s profound admiration for the Prairies that his students learned to “see” their subjects with an artist’s eye. FitzGerald, who was born in Manitoba, was known as “The Painter of the Prairie,”17 and his work was very influential not only in the West but elsewhere in Canada.18 Although he was a late-joining member of the Group of Seven,19 his style was distinctive. While the other members were looking above all at the land’s wild, spectacular aspect, FitzGerald was seeking out nature’s serenity and its contemplative side. Comparing two paintings, FitzGerald’s Potato Patch, Snowflake (Fig. 60) and Pauline Boutal’s Arthur (Fig. 58), it can be seen that these two artists, despite their differences, celebrate the same theme of man’s union with nature.

59. Pont sur la Seine [Bridge over the Seine] (Marion Street, St. Boniface), c. 1943.

In his painting, FitzGerald is recalling memories of a peaceful childhood in Snowflake, Manitoba.20 The pensive farmer has tamed his land; he has only to harvest his crops; his house awaits him at the top of the hill. FitzGerald’s subject seems almost immobile compared to Boutal’s very active character. Her painting harks back to a period in the life of her own immigrant generation, with an evident awareness of the difficulties her family experienced in attempting to find a foothold in this country: I think about Grand-mère and Papa, both gone too soon, at the very time when we might have been able to make their days easier. But isn’t that the inexorable law of all new lands? The first to arrive have to overcome some very challenging obstacles to adapt to the climate and different ways of working. Later on, the children reap the fruits of their parents’ labour and their physical and mental suffering.21 In another painting that was perhaps also influenced by FitzGerald, Pont sur la Seine (Fig. 59) from the 1940s, Boutal depicts Arthur enjoying a quiet moment fishing from the bank of the Seine River in St. Boniface. Altogether, Boutal seemed well satisfied by the instruction provided by the WSA. Later on, when she studied at the Cape School of Art, she would confide the following observation to her mother: “Anyway, what I knew before coming here was not all that bad.”22

60. Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Potato Patch, Snowflake, 1925.

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Chapter 8

A Shared Passion for Theatre

May I now ask you to do something that would give me great pleasure? It is to cite my wife’s name, along with mine, for this award: she is my unfailing collaborator, she’s also the actress I always toss into the mix when it’s not working as I want; and, just as much as I am, she is devoted to a cause that is dear to us: presenting great French theatre! —Arthur Boutal, 21 September 1938 1

61. Pauline Boutal, 1925.

Pauline and Arthur, Not a Typical Couple It goes without saying that, in the 1920s and 1930s, with her art classes and long hours at work as a commercial artist, the life Pauline Boutal (Fig. 61) was leading ran counter to that of a young wife as described on La Liberté’s “Women’s Page:” They will be model spouses, never attempting, because they have had business training, to have a career like their husband’s that would take them out of the home, but rather reigning happily over their well-kept house.2 Boutal was certainly neither a queen nor a slave in a well-kept house. She did not concern herself with running the home and even hired a cleaning woman, and she never had a washing machine but always sent out her laundry.3 Unlike the traditional arrangement in which the husband was responsible for the household finances, it was Pauline who managed the couple’s affairs.4 What’s more, she provided financial support to her mother and Arthur’s parents. Pauline did not conform to the stereotype of the stay-at-home woman, and Arthur did not concern himself with the accounts. Arthur (Fig. 62), who was a born Bohemian, threw himself body and soul into theatrical productions, and Pauline supported him in all his projects. The Boutals complemented each other, united in a strong collaboration.

62. Arthur Boutal, n.d.

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In the early 1920s, the Boutals helped to sew costumes and build sets for the Sainte-Cécile concerts,5 plays produced by L’Aiglon6 and “La Gauloise,”7 and musical presentations by Father Caron, the Collège de Saint-Boniface and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.8 In 1922, in the company of bookseller Louis-Philippe Gagnon, who was a friend, Arthur and Pauline undertook a tour to the Manitoba communities of Elm Creek and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes for the Association d’éducation:9 Louis-Philippe accompanied my husband and me in our old Case de Luxe, at its stately pace of 25 miles per hour. We had brought along several bottles of wine—homemade—and a snack, in case of… a breakdown. At that time the dirt roads, pitifully maintained, often held some surprises. And, my God, we ran the risk of getting stuck for the night! A catastrophe! Oh, our younger days…10 In 1925, Arthur and Pauline, who had dreamt of starting a theatre company, accepted the invitation to join Le Cercle Molière extended by its founders, André Castelein de la Lande and Raymond Bernier: “And that is what we did; we went from L’Aiglon to Le Cercle Molière.”11 LouisPhilippe Gagnon was the chairman of the board and Pauline and Arthur were members of the crew—Pauline took care of make-up while Arthur shifted the scenery and positioned the lights.12

The Boutals at Le Cercle Molière Arthur Boutal made Le Cercle a phenomenal theatre company, and the credit is all his. He was a comrade and confidant to his actors and technicians, while maintaining his authority and a sense of each person’s gift for creating a role or a set—he won their trust. —Pauline Boutal, 19 September 1965 13 In 1928, Arthur became the company’s director, and Le Cercle Molière presented Alphonse Daudet’s L’Arlésienne at the Walker Theatre. The ambitious production included accompaniment by an orchestra conducted by Marius Benoist and a choir of twenty-five children. Pauline and Arthur, who had a large car, took charge of getting the children to rehearsals “with children on my knees, between the two of us, and all the rest in the back seat.”14 Pauline claims that she was not as patient with them as Arthur, who “could get them to do whatever he wanted.”15 According to Pauline, during rehearsals “Arthur was serious, calm, never raised his voice…. However, when rehearsals were over, he was full of life.”16 A feature of Le Cercle Molière was a strong comradeship among company members, and the plays they produced were “the work of a 62

small group of ardent followers who toiled for a long time with no money, making everything—‘sets, costumes and the rest’—by hand.”17 In 1929 and 1930, Arthur and Pauline took the company’s productions on tour with the support of La Liberté, where Arthur was working. Their mission was to provide “a diverting evening of theatre that everyone, big and small, would remember with a smile.”18 On weekends in May and June, with a small troupe19 of singers and actors, a make-up artist, an accompanist, and a truck driver, the Boutals would take off on roads that were “gravel and often impassable” to tour some thirty francophone villages. They performed their shows in parish halls and were put up at the town hotel or the rectory:20 “You had to be ready to take what comes on a tour like that.”21 Boutal recalled some very comical incidents from those tours. She remembered falling off a table while on stage, and the audience just thought it was part of the play. And then: There was a huge metal tub right next to the stage that was full of bottles of Coca-Cola swimming in ice water. Right in the middle of the drama Le Pater, when the entire audience had teared up over a sad passage, all of a sudden—Brum, brum, brum. Someone was thirsty and had come up during the play to rummage around in that thing for a nice cold bottle. Oh, you should have heard the people! It created the oddest effect. But what an idea!! He might have waited for the play to be over.22 The little company created quite a splash when it performed in country villages. They had a lot of fun despite the tight budgets,23 and even if the parish halls lacked electricity, there was always a party afterwards.24 While Arthur was distinguishing himself as a director, Pauline (Fig. 63) drew attention as both an actor and an artist. She took advantage of her talents as an illustrator to sketch the villagers at intermission: When we were on tour, I would draw caricatures of the people I had seen in the town. I had my easel and my pastels; my husband had set it all up for me. […] I would take a pastel in hand. But I had been careful to choose my types and study them. In a corner of my blank sheet of paper, I would make a tiny line drawing to get me started; then I could easily blow it up on the sheet and add a little colour. The audience would watch me at it. The sheets were very large. Once my caricatures were finished, I would lift them off and give them to whoever wanted them. I left them there and went off to get into my costume.25 Her ability to capture a personality faithfully with a few quick strokes of the pencil was also put to use in her sketches of costumes.

63. Pauline Boutal, c. 1925.

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64. Le chant du berceau, set drawing, 1938.

65. Le voyage à Biarritz, set drawing, 1937.

Drawings of Sets and Costumes Pauline Boutal’s art was highly individual, and the special quality of her costume sketches derived from her animation of the figures who filled up the pages. In fact, what she produced were not so much drawings of costumes as images of the actors playing their roles. The drawings were all staged, like comic strips in which the characters are frozen in motion. And whereas for costumes she would concentrate on a character’s expression, in set designs it was the play of light that caught her attention, as in Le voyage à Biarritz (Fig. 65). For Le chant du berceau (Fig. 64), from 1938, she was especially sensitive to the qualities of the light. She managed to create a celestial atmosphere by painting a grey background above a milky rose floor, evoking a sunrise. The only detail that intruded on their harmony was the diagonal line of a brilliant shaft of light, which she created by scraping away some of the colour. Many characters dressed in white were outlined against the grey background, adding an aspect of staging to the drawing of a set. According to Boutal, the design and composition of costume and set drawings are akin to those of illustrations.26 In one of her first drawings for theatre, Le pater (Fig. 66), dating from February 1926, her style borrowed from book illustration in that she chose to illustrate the dramatic moment in a script. To set up the staging, she depicted the young woman as seated, with her eyes averted and her hand hiding her emotions, creating a contrast with the priest, who is on his feet, dominating the scene with an authoritarian gesture.

The Artists and Community Theatre Their own artistry was a strong bond between Arthur and Pauline, and their interest in theatre was shared with other artists in the community.27 They also shared with them the experience of being recent immigrants. Walter J. Phillips, president of the Manitoba Society of Artists, was from England, while Alexander Musgrove, who taught at the Winnipeg School of Art, was from Scotland. Arnold Brigden, of Bridgens graphic illustrators, was also from England, and among his artists, Eric Bergman was from Germany and Charles Comfort from Scotland. These artists and their spouses, along with Lionel and Felicia FitzGerald,28 all took part in community theatre productions. They would appear on stage or design the sets, costumes and programs, as well as making props, painting flats, applying make-up, and hanging lights. They took an interest in all aspects of production. Pauline Boutal, like a number of Brigdens artists, designed sets and costumes for the Winnipeg Little Theatre and the Permanent Players

66. Le pater, drawing, 1926.

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(Fig. 67). Her mastery of the brush and pen are demonstrated in the execution of her meticulous drawings of costumes. The precision she brought to her fashion illustrations for the catalogue can most clearly be seen in her drawings for the Winnipeg Little Theatre’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac (Fig. 68, 69 70).29 In her view, these sketches were among her most interesting and noteworthy drawings for theatre: Among the costumes I have designed, the most outstanding and interesting to me are those of Prunella, a play by Granville Barker; Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Good Friday, presented at the Little Theatre under the direction of John Craig; Henry IV, one of Pirandello’s plays, directed and produced by Lady Tupper; and for Le Cercle Molière, L’Arlisienne [sic], Les Sœurs Guédonnee [sic], La Chienne du Roi, L’Avare, Le Chant du berceau.30 The drawings of sets and costumes were not her only ones. In collaboration with Arthur, who “loved to spend hours on end making prints,”31 she drew scenes from stage sets that he would then print in La Liberté’s workshop. They undertook a variety of other projects, such as producing Christmas cards (Fig. 71) and, in keeping with the custom of the time, Pauline would exchange prints with her colleagues at Brigdens. Over the years, she and Arthur accumulated an impressive collection of cards.32 Boutal also designed posters and program covers for a variety of events—Le Cercle Molière’s productions, operas like Mireille (Fig. 75), and various concerts, galas, and performances, such as that of Canossa in honour of Archbishop Béliveau in 1927. She drew images that Arthur would then carve into linoleum for printing at the newspaper’s workshop. They used up to four colours, as in the program for L’Arlésienne (Fig. 73); however, that process was time-consuming and costly, and it was not always practicable, owing to the large size of some of Le Cercle Molière’s posters. Pauline would think back fondly on producing the posters (Fig. 72, 76, 77), especially those for the play Popaul et Virginie in 1929 (Fig. 74)—it called for twenty-five giant sheets in two colours that were painted by hand in La Liberté’s shop. Again with Arthur’s collaboration, Pauline illustrated calendar covers for La Liberté, such as the pastel piece L’abonné fidèle (Fig. 78), which was submitted to the MSA’s 1940 exhibition as Wine, Snuff and Politics. Some of the newspaper’s subscribers retained wonderful memories of her illustrations. J. Léon Bruyère, who corresponded regularly with La Liberté from the 1920s to the 1960s, alluded to it in a letter he sent her: “What’s more, you used your personal talents as a painter, which for a long time graced the calendars the newspaper handed out each year, as yet another means of propaganda.”33 Pauline and Arthur also 66

67. Mouth, Prunella, costume drawing for the Winnipeg Little Theatre, n.d.

68. De Cuiche, Cyrano, costume drawing for the Winnipeg Little Theatre, n.d.

69. Cyrano, Act I, costume drawing, n.d.

70. Cyrano, Act I, Two Ladies and Flower Girl, costume drawing, n.d.

71. Matin de Premier de l’an en Bretagne [New Year’s Morning in Brittany], 1938.

collaborated on promoting the newspaper. He was proud of his wife’s talent and drew his clients’ attention to her pieces by printing them. During her years at Brigdens, while Arthur was plying his trade as a printer at La Liberté, she never stopped producing art. Despite having taken art courses in France, it was not Arthur who became the artist in the family; instead, he devoted his printing skills to supporting his wife’s artistic talent. On the other hand, it was Arthur who played the leading role in the theatre, while Pauline backed him up.

The Collective Production of the Le Goff-Boutal Family Arthur and Pauline were able to throw themselves body and soul into the Cercle Molière productions because the Le Goff family went right along with them, according to Christiane Le Goff: While growing up, I already had it in my head. I always remember seeing some member of the family preoccupied with the theatre, or doing it, or wanting to do it … but it was always in the air in our house, and as for Arthur…, he was truly infatuated with the theatre.34 68

72. Le train fantôme, 1932.

75. Mireille, 1935.

73. L’Arlésienne, 1928.

76. Rire est le propre de l’homme, 1927.

74. Popaul et Virginie, 1929.

77. Bibi, 1935.

78. L’abonné fidèle, 1940. This pastel portrait of A. Sourisseau was displayed in the Manitoba Society of Artists exhibition under the title Wine, Snuff and Politics.

79. Arthur and Pauline Boutal on tour in Dunrea, Manitoba, 1938. From left to right: Henri Pinvidec, Maurice Boulet, Arthur Boutal, Thérèse Lavoie, Pauline Boutal, Mr. and Mrs. Pinvidec, and Virginie Lavoie.

In fact, Pauline’s mother and her sister Marie took charge of running up the costumes based on her drawings. Christiane, Suzanne, and Antoine performed on stage and Marcel was technical director, with the help of Arthur and Pauline, who pitched in to construct and paint the sets. Pauline also acted, under Arthur’s direction. She said about this period that the theatre demanded a lot of work and they wouldn’t have done it if they hadn’t loved it.35 Le Cercle Molière played a major role in the Boutal couple’s social life (Fig. 79). “La Péninsule,” where they lived, served as a gathering place for their enthusiastic circle of theatre friends, but it also provided them with moments of privacy.

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Chapter 9

La Péninsule

“La Péninsule”—That’s what I had christened the Boutals’ odd little piece of land, which was bounded on three sides by our sinuous Seine River and, moreover, hidden from sight by tangled hedges and wild grasses, as if it were in the country. The couple created an atmosphere of certain good taste, a refined way of life, and devotion to their work. —Gabrielle Roy, 1980 1

80. Le prunier [The plum tree], 1942.

Pauline and Arthur lived on a private little estate (Fig. 80) sitting on a property shaped like a peninsula and closed off from Horace Street by a white picket fence. They bought the property following their return from France in 1917 and had two houses built on it, one for them and the other for Arthur’s parents.2 The main house, which was white with green shutters (Fig. 81), was connected to the second and to a garage by a circular driveway with flower gardens and a fish pond in its centre, complete with fountain and birdbath (Fig. 84). The wooded banks of the Seine River, where Arthur and his father liked to fish, bordered the yard full of wild grass where the houses sat. There were also small sheds where Jean Boutal (Fig. 87) raised chickens and where, if Pauline had not prevented it, he would have kept a cow!3 This small corner of paradise—“My garden on Horace Street! I loved it so!”4—was nicknamed “La Péninsule” by Gabrielle Roy.5

Arthur and Pauline’s Family Pauline and Arthur had a strong attachment to their families and welcomed them to La Péninsule (Fig. 86). Arthur’s parents died within weeks of each other in the winter of 1934–1935, and Pauline’s sister Suzanne and her husband Taras Hubicki moved into the smaller house and lived there for several years. Then it was Pauline’s mother, Louise Le Goff, and her sister Christiane who occupied the tip of La Péninsule.

81. The house of Arthur and Pauline, n.d.

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82. Letter from Pauline Boutal to Margot Gagnon, 29 August 1938.

After that, her sister Marie (Le Goff) Kennedy and her family moved into a third house on Horace Street, on the other side of the property. Marie’s children, Zizi, John, and Charles, made it livelier still for Arthur and Pauline with daily visits (Fig. 83, 85). In a letter dated 29 August 1938, as well as alluding to one of those visits, Pauline inserted a small caricature of her niece Zizi, who was then five years old (Fig. 82):

83. Pauline Boutal with John Kennedy and Christiane Le Goff, c. 1926.

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Zizi is here, buzzing around me like a fly, I wonder what she’s after —Ah!—she wants Yvonne Thibault’s hat, the hat Yvonne wore to sing in Les Charbonniers. You should see Zizi!—Just look at that get-up!... She’s coming down from the attic. It should be just lovely up there, and what will I have to pick up, ye gods!... Look at that train. It’s an old curtain and none too clean. Her brothers make fun of her, but she’s above it all. She comes to see me every day and often makes me do what I really don’t want to. I have several jobs on the go, illustrations, my studies, etc., and she manages to get me to abandon my work and take her to the pool in the park across the street.6

84. Jean Boutal, c. 1930.

Little Zizi often ended up at the house of Aunt Pauline and Uncle Arthur, and Pauline would retain fond memories of those visits. At the age of eight, for example, Zizi had a cat hidden under her coat: “Guess what I brought you.” An anxious meow dispelled the riddle’s charm. She brought me a completely black cat that I called Sidi. Later on I had Miquette, so brilliant that she took my box of sugar, which was sitting on top of the sideboard, for a corner of the garden or a box of sand and just the thing to meet her pressing needs. My husband would never close a box or a drawer or a closet door. A bit annoying in this situation.7 Zizi, whose name was in fact Louise Kennedy, remembers that whenever a special evening was being prepared at the Boutals’, Aunt Pauline would send her home, to her great disappointment. Louise was not the only one to want to go to parties at La Péninsule. The young Gabrielle Roy (Fig. 88), who appeared in Le Cercle Molière’s productions from 1933 to 1936, also longed to be invited to “one of those delicious little dinners that we would find only at La Péninsule.”8

85. Pauline Boutal with John Kennedy and Christiane Le Goff, c. 1925.

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86. Jean et Arthur Boutal, c. 1930.

87. Jean Boutal, 1932.

The Prestige Surrounding the Boutals The Boutal couple enjoyed enormous prestige, and for Gabrielle, getting close to them was not only a way of perfecting her acting skills but also, and above all, a way to begin her social and personal ascent. The Boutals’ way of life and culture, their open, refined minds and purity of speech, everything about them appealed to her need for beauty and distinction. —François Ricard, Gabrielle Roy, Une vie, 1996 9

88. Les sœurs Guédonec, 1936. First row, from left to right: Pauline Boutal, the Sourisseau and Deniset boys, Gabrielle Roy; second row: Arthur Boutal, Élisa Houde, Joseph Plante.

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The Boutals had acquired a certain renown in the francophone community. Arthur was the director of Le Cercle Molière as well as manager of the newspaper La Liberté. Pauline often acted in Le Cercle Molière’s plays, while pursuing a career as a fashion illustrator for the very popular Eaton’s catalogue. In 1938, to acknowledge the distinctions earned by the couple, Le Cercle Molière held a banquet in their honour at the Hotel Marlborough. Pauline had just won the award for Best Actress in Canada at the Dominion Drama Festival, and Arthur had been named Officier d’Académie by the government of France.10 The following year, it was Pauline who was granted France’s Palmes académiques for her contribution to Canadian theatre, and Arthur who won the Canadian Drama Award. Their success at the Dominion Drama Festival, an annual amateur theatre competition,11 won them a reputation at the national level. Pauline Boutal recalled that, the first year she participated in the festival, in 1934, Le Cercle Molière carried off “the award for the best French play, up against Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal.” She added, “It must be said that the years from 1934 to 1939 made Le Cercle Molière known in every artistic community in Canada.”12 Régine Marsh, who was a stage manager and director at Le Cercle Molière in 1962 and 1963, recalls how in the 1930s, the Boutals would stay with her parents in Ottawa. According to her, the name Boutal was well known at the Festival, and Le Cercle Molière’s performances were among the theatre lovers’ favourites.13 The Boutals were members of a St. Boniface élite made up of French, Belgian, and Swiss immigrants who were brought together by their artistic training as well as their European origins.14 This cultural community of new Canadians was buzzing with activity in the early years of the century. They produced shows, operas, vaudeville, and plays. They formed orchestras, brass bands, and choruses, wrote music and gave piano and organ lessons. They published newspapers and opened bookstores.15 They did it all with “European” taste and flair. It was a very generous community, even if there were often money problems.16 Gabrielle Roy, who was a member of this cultured class in the 1930s, describes it as follows:

Saint-Boniface may be a tiny, marginal society that is rather inwardlooking, but as everywhere there are élites, in particular a small secular élite composed of educated people, rich or not so rich, whose way of living and thinking is not only more refined and elegant, but more modern, open and audacious than the norm. These people make up what some would call the intellectual class in Saint-Boniface, the small, distinguished community of artists, book readers and lovers of culture, good taste and beauty. They travel or have travelled, they are worldly and follow fashion, they pride themselves on being avant-garde and feel completely up to the minute. Regarding ordinary folk, they do not necessarily feel contempt, but simply know themselves to be superior. Either they study and educate them and try to lift them up to their level, or they have no interest and shrug off “what people will say.” They’re different, they’re emancipated, they’re happy.17 In fact, Gabrielle Roy was filled with admiration for these “moderns,” but her older sister Adèle worried about the Boutals’ values and “especially their perception of what a young woman should be.”18 She bemoaned the influence they had over Gabrielle: These emigrants … displayed a certain pity for the French-Canadians, who produced so many children without any concern for their education. In her contacts with the intellectuals who would show off their culture, Gabrielle felt some shame in thinking of her parents and started to feel regret, if not contempt, for the environment she was born into.19 Pauline and Arthur (Fig. 89) were also different from other young couples in St. Boniface in that they never had children. The reason for this remains obscure; however, in 1929, Pauline was ready to offer to adopt her goddaughter, the fourth child of a neighbouring friend. Whatever the case, the Boutals took advantage of their freedom to travel in Canada and Europe. First in 1927 and then again in 1930, they travelled to France and Belgium. A watercolour, Pêcheurs sur un quai [Fishers on a dock] (Fig. 92), resulted from their trip to the south of France. In another painting (Fig. 90), a pastel, Pauline recreates a market scene in Lesneven, at Place Le Flô. Arthur and Pauline also travelled by car across Canada, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, and went by train with Le Cercle Molière to the Dominion Drama Festival.

89. Arthur and Pauline, c. 1938.

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90. Marché à Lesneven à Place Le Flô [Market in Lesneven at Place Le Flô], 1931.

91. Pauline and Arthur, c. 1935–1940.

Arthur’s Portrait About the years she shared with Arthur, Pauline said that “it was really something marvellous and … we were very happy (Fig. 91).”20 Arthur was her intellectual partner and the great love of her life. It is not surprising that she would claim that Arthur’s portrait (Fig. 93) remained “one of [her] best works.”21 The piece, which is certainly worthy of the artist, provides a good demonstration of her ability to produce a realistic representation, and she herself stated: “It really is him, you know, with the eternal cigarette between his lips.”22 In Arthur’s gaze (Fig. 94), she captured the essence of that being she had known and loved since 1909. The composition has a superb authority and bespeaks the confidence of an artist with a long experience of drawing. The aura and spirit she gave her subject came out of the respect and admiration she felt for the man who was her life. However, in the spring of 1941, after twenty-five years of marriage, everything changed for Pauline: In the fall of 1940, my husband began to rehearse a play, Eugénie Grandet, adapted from Balzac. He had even taken an acting role; he was playing Father Grandet. It’s a wonderful part. So he then had to handle the direction, his own part and the technical aspects. He was not well. I told him to be careful, that he was overworking himself with the rehearsals. “Oh, no, it does me good, I’m with the others.” Only, during the day, he would sometimes ask me, “Would you help me learn my lines? I’d like to go over them.” I could see that his memory was failing, more and more. I said, “You see, it’s tiring you out, drop the part.” … Then suddenly it was ’41 and we still hadn’t performed Eugénie Grandet. We were supposed to play it in the fall of ’41. The last rehearsals he held were in the spring of

92. Pêcheurs sur un quai [Fishers on a dock], c. 1927.

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that year. That’s when he decided to pack it in.… So we stopped it all right there. In May, my husband had an attack and went into the hospital. His left side was paralyzed. A slight paralysis.23

93. Portrait d’Arthur [Portrait of Arthur], 1939.

Following a hospital stay of almost a month, Arthur suffered a second stroke. He died on Monday, 16 June 1941, at the age of fifty-four. The funeral service was held at the cathedral in St. Boniface and the body was buried in the cemetery there, in the family plot. Two months after her twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Pauline was widowed at the age of forty-six: “So in 1941, I was in mourning, the loss of my husband turned my life upside down; he was an exceptional man who shared every instant of my existence.”24 Her grief over her husband’s death was too much for her, and she went into a depression.25 She loved him deeply, with an indelible love, because her life and his had been intertwined since 1909 when she was fifteen, at Le Nouvelliste. Memories of their existence together would overwhelm her, especially on the anniversary of his death. Even thirty years later, in 1972, she wrote that June 16 “is still a date that is painful, despite all the years that have gone by.”26 In 1963, many years after having left the lovely property on Horace Street, she was overcome by a profound sadness when she saw their “charming retreat”:27 One day as I was going to the cemetery, I stopped in front of my Péninsule. I didn’t have the courage to press on to Horace Street. My memories assaulted my heart, my mind, they seemed to flow towards me from all those stands of trees along the banks of the Seine, with a cry that hurt me. I turned my head towards the opposite bank and, quickening my pace, headed to the bus stop.28

94. Arthur Boutal, c. 1935–1940.

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Chapter 10

The Years of Mourning

When Arthur Boutal died in 1941, our chairman, Dr. Georges Laflèche, asked me to take on the responsibilities my husband had left behind. “Doctor, I’ll never be able to do it. I don’t know enough.” He told me, “No. You must do it. We’ll help you!” —Pauline Boutal, 1980 1

95. Pivoines [Peonies], c. 1946.

The couple had been united by their love of theatre. Pauline Boutal (Fig. 96), who had always supported Arthur in his dedication to Le Cercle Molière, acceded to the request from Dr. Georges La Flèche, the theatre’s chairman, that she replace Arthur as its artistic director: I admit that I hesitated because I didn’t feel I had the required skills. But my family was very encouraging, especially my mother, who had worked tirelessly researching and sewing costumes, and my brother Marcel, who had already been initiated into technical direction by my husband. And so I accepted because I didn’t feel alone. Relying on what Arthur Boutal had taught me, the support provided by the entire company, and several loyal, devoted friends who were ardent theatre lovers, I staged my first major production during the following season, in 1942, with Prenez garde à la peinture by René Fauchois.2

Pauline Boutal Becomes the Company’s Artistic Director Pauline Boutal directed a dozen plays in the 1940s. Of particular interest is La chienne du roi (Sous la terreur) (Fig. 97), from 1944—Boutal herself played the role of Madame Du Barry while also directing and designing the set and costumes. Before starting to make rapid sketches on two-inch scraps of paper,3 she read the script several times over. This preparatory step allowed her to reflect on the play and put her character into context.

96. Pauline Boutal before the Portrait d’Arthur, n.d.

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97. La chienne du roi (Sous la terreur), set drawing, 1944.

She later recalled having had a hard time finding an actor to play the part of “a revolutionary jailer” (Fig. 98), but then discovered Frédéric Restiaux, who sold vegetables around the neighbourhood:4 Between the wars, Frédéric—that’s what we called him—became Saint-Boniface’s Crainquebile. Same accent, same rapid-fire speech as the protagonist in Anatole France’s famous play. He made his daily rounds with his cart and his mare Katie, a sweet, long-suffering animal whose patience sometimes ran out when the boss stayed too long at a tavern or a client’s house. In winter, the smell of his cart’s interior, which was heated with oil, would taint the flavour of his fruits and vegetables, causing his customers to complain a little. Owing to his physique and his accent, Frédéric was chosen to play the part of a revolutionary jailer in one of Le Cercle Molière’s productions. He was a huge success.5

98. Prison guard, La chienne du roi (Sous la terreur), costume drawing, 1944.

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Monique Guyot, one of Le Cercle Molière’s actors, reported that Restiaux was perfect for the part because of “the way he made his entrances” and “his way of walking. Pauline Boutal didn’t even have to use any makeup on him.”6 The man with the “red nose” was, in Boutal’s view, “a total character!”7 To express his gratitude, said Boutal, every Saturday night Monsieur Restiaux would bring her cabbages and celery, no doubt redolent of heating oil.8

99. Manitoba Calling, 1944.

100. Œuvres de secours à la France, Pauline Boutal, right, c. 1941.

Illustrations from the 1940s One day I’d had enough and I left. For a long time my husband had been telling me to, and I should have listened to him, followed his advice and started painting, really painting, portraits, landscapes and so on. —Pauline Boutal, 30 May 1978 9

101. Illustration de La famille aux pieds de Saint Joseph, le jour du Culte [The family at the feet of St. Joseph on the day of rest], n.d.

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The years following Arthur’s death were hard for Pauline who, in 1941, left Brigdens and abandoned her twenty-three-year career in commercial art. Boutal took a break before setting about painting in earnest, and she submitted no work to the Manitoba Society of Artists exhibitions from 1941 until 1943. In 1943, however, she took part in the Salon des Beaux-Arts, a fine arts event held by the post-secondary teaching association of the Collège de Saint-Boniface.10 She also continued to accept graphic arts assignments. In 1944, she illustrated the cover of Manitoba Calling (Fig. 99), applying the precision and watercolour techniques she had acquired during her years as a fashion illustrator. From 1942 to 1949, she renewed a contract she had signed in 1935 with the Clerics of Saint Viator in Montreal to illustrate the calendar for the Maison Saint-Joseph (Fig. 101).11 Some of these pieces were in watercolours while others, like

102. France quand même..., 1940. Illustration of the French heroes’ parade, which served as a Christmas greeting card.

the series on Saint Joseph’s seven sorrows and joys, were done in pastels. Boutal, who had done so much to strengthen community spirit, agreed to paint religious scenes for celebrations and anniversaries at no charge. In 1945, for an exhibition organized by the Oblate Fathers to mark the one-hundredth anniversary of their arrival in Manitoba, she painted a series of twenty-three life-sized portraits12 of representatives of religious orders. And her generosity did not stop with the religious community.

L’Oeuvre de secours à la France During the Second World War (Fig. 100), Pauline Boutal threw herself body and soul into l’Oeuvre de secours à la France, the Organization to Save France, doing anything and everything—sewing on buttons or wrapping packages and sending them overseas.13 In 1943, she was elected president of the organization and, in 1946, she was awarded a medal by the French government in recognition of “the part played in sending aid to France during the war and since the liberation” (Fig. 102).14 She was very touched by this acknowledgement, in particular because the Breton region where her relations lived had been bombed and communications were disrupted.15 From June to August 1940, Boutal also produced a series of five drawings for the Winnipeg Tribune

103. Drawing for the Winnipeg Tribune, 19 July 1940.

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(Fig. 103),16 each accompanied by a brief article encouraging the citizens of Winnipeg to donate to the Red Cross.

The Desire to Live Slowly Returns You know, Suzanne, my exchange of letters every week, or nearly, with Mr. Pierquin has been a great help to me, because in his frank but kindly way, he has often given me advice about this. —Pauline Boutal, 27 February 1964 17

104. Pauline Boutal in front of the house at La Péninsule, c. 1945.

105. Louise Le Goff, Suzanne Tremblay, and Pauline Boutal, c. 1947.

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A faithful correspondent, Father Pierquin18 provided Pauline Boutal with invaluable support in this difficult time, but the fact that her grief persisted for so long worried him (Fig. 104). Four years after Arthur’s death, he made a personal visit to the Consulate of France, with the discreet mission of entrusting his good friend’s well-being to the sensitive care of a young secretary there named Suzanne Tremblay.19 In 1945, Suzanne Tremblay joined Le Cercle Molière as a props manager, actor, prompter and publicist, and a special friendship developed between the two women, a friendship that would be nurtured by their mutual interest in the arts. In fact, as early as the first summer of their acquaintance, Boutal drew her friend’s portrait during a picnic at La Péninsule. Suzanne, who regularly rode her bicycle over to Horace Street, turned out to be both a loyal friend and a discreet confidante (Fig. 105). In return for the encouragement Boutal gave her young friend, Suzanne took an interest in her work as a painter and lent her essential support over the years: I feel that I can confide in you.…you have an idea of what can throw me into that extreme state of sadness. In you, Suzette, because you’re a friend of my little Christiane and also one of mine, and a regular visitor to the house.… I feel somewhat relieved to be able to share the secret of my unquiet emotions with someone I love so much, even if it’s a snub-nosed kid, a 22-year-old girl who knows me better than many people my age do and from whom I have received loyal support in many situations. Your friendship is very dear to me and I hope that it will never end.20 Thanks to this friendship, her zest for life was rekindled (Fig. 106). Pauline Boutal had always had an appreciation for high culture, and now she took a renewed interest in history, politics, and literature. But above all, with Suzanne’s encouragement, she again felt the desire to paint (Fig. 95). In 1946, Boutal decided to resume her activities as a painter, this time in a more consistent way.

106. Pauline at La Péninsule, c. 1949.

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Chapter 11

The Cape School of Art in Massachusetts

Then, in 1946, came a sudden decision; an awakening from the torpor induced by the demands of advertising art brought on an almost abrupt schism with pastels. I went to Cape Cod with one of my friends, Georgie Wilcox, and there, for two months, in Mr. George Elmer Browne’s studio, I didn’t touch pastels or pencils. The brush, the palette knife and the palette were my only work instruments. Finally, I was really getting to know painting. —Pauline Boutal, n.d.1

107. Quai par temps gris [Dock on a grey day], 1946.

Towards the end of June 1946, Pauline Boutal spontaneously accepted an invitation from Georgie Wilcox, a friend from Brigdens, and her daughter Bobbie to accompany them to the Cape School of Art in Massachusetts and take some courses. The school, which had a mandate to train a new dynasty of American Impressionists, is still located in the fishing village of Provincetown, where the ambience created by the light is similar to that found in Europe by the French Impressionists. Georgie, who had some previous experience of courses conducted out of doors, took charge of making sure that Pauline Boutal had all the necessary equipment (Fig. 108): They are both very good for me and I am in their debt for having put me on a war footing, if I can use that expression, for my entrance into the studio. They got me fully equipped and harnessed for our study outings and gave me the benefit of their knowledge of the work routine. When one is “green” one often needs advice. They both did their utmost to make my tasks easier.2 From the day she arrived, Pauline enjoyed exploring the picturesque village (Fig. 109), which reminded her of “a little hamlet” with its charming architecture and narrow lanes, “all blooming with roses.”3

108. Georgie Wilcox and Pauline Boutal (Cape School of Art), 1946.

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The students and artists were housed in rustic cottages facing the ocean, at the end of a yard surrounded by small trees. During the summer months, when the Cape School of Art opened its doors for the season, Provincetown was transformed into a community of traditional and modern artists, where students and famous painters mixed freely.

The Student Life We wallow in paint from morning till night. Our hands, clothes and even faces don’t look all that bad with paint smears on them. We’ve had a month to get used to it, you understand. And I have to admit that it isn’t doing me any harm. Obviously we aren’t dressed for the salon, but we see so many walking caricatures in this place that our working artist’s look only leaves its impression on us, and none whatsoever on the bustling populace of Provincetown’s narrow streets. —Pauline Boutal, 31 July 1946 4 Boutal (Fig. 110) lived the student life to the fullest and easily found her place in the community of artists. Then aged fifty-one, she smoked Gitane cigarettes, wore pants and a T-shirt, and sported short hair under a visor. The painter did not worry about her appearance—“a complete departure from etiquette where our style of dress is concerned.”5 She realized that the way artists dress is far from romantic, and she knew that the hands-on preparations required by the work are still less so:

109. Provincetown, Cape Cod, 1946.

Today Georgie and I hauled in four wooden cases in which to store our boxes of colours. I’ll make them on the weekend, she’s counting on my carpentry skills. They sometimes come in handy.6 As well, they readied their portfolios and stretched canvases with an “infernal racket.”7 Once their preparations were complete, the students were ready to start another day.8

Outdoor Painting Sessions

110. Pauline Boutal, Georgie and Bobbie Wilcox, 1946.

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Boutal worked mostly outdoors (Fig. 111). According to her letters, the long sessions, which began with a visit to the studio at 8:30 in the morning,9 were so tiring that at night “we could have fallen asleep on the floor.”10 It was “exhausting to be out in the sun for 3 hours in the morning, and then have another 3 hours of doing studies in the afternoon, again in bright sunshine.”11 But the heat was not their only concern:

We wanted to do a study of a street corner. One more session and I think we would have been satisfied, since our start in the morning had been promising.… Loaded up like mules, as usual, we set up our easels close to a garage on the street itself, our Commercial Ave.… But you have no idea how fed up I was with the passersby in that town. We were photographed by tourists at least 10 times that morning. A kid who was even more curious than the others came too close to Georgie’s easel and stepped on her jar of oil. So, as you might expect, he took off. At about 12:30 we packed our bags. There were more and more people passing by and it was time to think about dinner.12 At the end of the afternoon, the brushes would be put away and the little community of artists in Provincetown came to life. Georgie and Pauline sometimes went out to the restaurants frequented by a circle of local artists and American painters, among them the eighty-one-year-old landscape artist Albert Groll. He explained to them, “Nature is our best teacher and I often come back to her, because I still have a lot to learn!”13 In the evening, like the other students, Pauline and Georgie were invited to have cocktails with the local artists. They visited the studios of, among others, artist Chris Rohmans14 and the French author Jacques Salvan.15 They also dropped in at the studio of a well-known Cape Cod resident, American artist Charles Heinz. Another particularly interesting member of the community who was quick to make Pauline Boutal’s acquaintance was teacher George Elmer Browne. George Elmer Browne Our teacher has made his visit and I anticipate that it will be a pleasure to work under his instruction. Very affable and unprepossessing, he did us the honour of inviting us to a performance of Brief Moment, Behrman’s play, at the municipal theatre, which is none other than the village’s Town Hall. We also took a walk along the docks and, while we looked at the fishing boats at rest, he told me a little about his life in Brittany. —Pauline Boutal, 29 June 1946 16 Boutal caught George Elmer Browne’s attention because she was a Bretonne, and he had himself “lived for quite a long time in Brittany and Paris.”17 They also shared an interest in theatre, and Browne often invited Boutal and Wilcox to accompany him. Later on, he invited them to his house and Pauline Boutal was at last able to admire his paintings, especially those of the Breton coast. “It was a momentous occasion,” she

111. Open air session (Pauline Boutal on the left), 1946.

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wrote. They were scenes she knew well, “especially the old church in Locronan, the Baie des Trépassés, Douarnenez, Concarneau, etc., many other places that had charmed me and left me with indelible memories.”18 George Elmer Browne19 was an artist of international repute who produced watercolours of Breton and Spanish landscapes and oil paintings of seascapes at Cape Cod. He favoured a decorative style and paid particular attention to composition and technique. He was bold enough to apply a generous layer of paint,20 and he would tell his students, “Where do you want to go with a five-cent squeeze of paint? Get a big 50 cent squeeze and you’ll go places.”21 He encouraged them to learn to manipulate the brush freely—a method that Pauline Boutal said was not easy to control at first. She spent three hours completing a study of the head and shoulders of a woman (Fig. 112)—the brush’s expressive strokes are striking. Browne would make his favourite comment in French: “Pas mal, pas mal ! [Not bad, not bad!]” Then he would take her brush and, as Boutal wrote, “show me some touches that would extend my colours with broad strokes.”22 It is the large, repetitive lines that give this portrait its unity, while there is a dominant contrast between the dark background and the light on the brilliant green sweater. By means of the chiaroscuro effect of the lighting, Boutal gave the sun-bronzed face the curves and polish of a sculpture. And even if she did not yet have “a feeling for the brush like the old hands,” as she wrote to her mother in 1946, she remained hopeful that “it will come.”23 It is clear that she was very concerned with what Browne had to say in judging her work: Saturday mornings we were expected to bring our studies and place them against a screen. Painting on one side, watercolours on the other. We sat in a semicircle to one side of the studio and… prepared ourselves to receive the verdict. It was an emotionally fraught moment, because this frank and outspoken man would sometimes unleash his sarcasm. Fortunately, none of the paintings or watercolours is labelled; that way, he doesn’t know, neither do we, we don’t know whom he is addressing. It’s extremely interesting. That criticism, and the demonstration that followed, were worth 10 years of instruction in Winnipeg.24 The paintings she produced under George E. Browne’s tutelage seemed to have drawn praise, since the teacher sent his students to look at them:25

112. Femme au chandail vert [Woman in a green top], 1946.

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My heart was beating fast. He called one of my canvases, I had four, “the most luminous in the group.” Another was “full of atmosphere,” aside from one fault, which really isn’t, drawing that is a little too precise. The third, same flaw, the fourth, not developed

113. Les pilotis, marée basse [Piles at low tide], 1946.

enough, but good colours. So, as you can imagine, when I left, I could breathe again!26 It is hardly surprising that after twenty-three years of technical illustration at Brigdens, Boutal’s drawing should be “a little too precise.” Her concern for detail and precision was deeply rooted. However, according to George E. Browne, the luminosity, colour, and atmosphere in her paintings were excellent:27 I paint the sea, I discover greens and greys the like of which don’t exist on the prairies. It is a summer to reflect, to analyze a nature that is new to me. It’s a different, mysterious beauty that makes me feel the appeal of doing research.28 The time she spent working with George Elmer Browne—all too brief —had a profound effect on her. She said that she felt fulfilled and truly happy: “What I had hoped for is surpassed by far by what I see.” By the time she had had a fourth lesson in Browne’s studio, she was delighted: “I am so happy! I believe that in all my life I have never felt a greater satisfaction.”29 To her regret, the day after a class, on 13 July, George Elmer Browne suddenly passed away. As Boutal wrote, she did not have the pleasure of having known him for long, “however, it was enough time to find an exquisite sensitivity and goodness in him.” She continued: I had already learned so much from him in two weeks that I am myself saddened by his passing. Last evening, coming back from supper, I met him on the street … and he asked me if my outdoor work had gone well. I told him that I was doing all I could to follow his advice, because one day this week he pointed out to me that I am timid and have no reason to be. I was looking forward to having him look at my work this morning, on his critique day. It’s too sad! He won’t see it! Two hours after we met he was no more, the poor man! He died as he would have wanted to—“with my shoes on!” —at the age of seventy-five.30 Browne’s courses were taken over by Daisy Marguerite Hughes,31 a former student of his who specialized in landscape and still life.32

Daisy Marguerite Hughes Boutal maintained good relations with Daisy Marguerite Hughes33 and wrote that “Miss Hughes is very polite, sensitive and a great help to us 98

114. Retour de pêche, quai à Provincetown, Cape Cod [Home from fishing, dock in Provincetown, Cape Cod], 1946.

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with her advice.”34 Hughes asked the students to find a subject and paint it in under an hour, then come back for a critique. In addition, she asked them to use a palette knife, which was a new experience for Boutal: You spread out the paint with a kind of small trowel that has a long, flexible nose and a long, curved handle like a real trowel’s. There are very well-known painters who specialize in using the trowel. Our current teacher advises us to start with the palette knife, so we made our first attempts this afternoon. I was happy enough, and I managed to capture my boat in time. In three quarters of an hour, we had dashed off our little study and the smack was a thing of the past. I was quite satisfied with it as a first attempt.35 Hughes, who seemed to be impressed by her work, complimented her on two of her paintings. An initial study, featuring a sunny day at low tide between two docks, “won a very favourable reaction for its composition and colours.”36 In a second small study using a palette knife (Fig. 107), “produced on one of the docks on a grey day,” Boutal depicted the effect of the weather—the dock and rocks are blurred by the rainy light. Painted as a maritime scene and filled with light in the style of the Impressionists, the piece “pleased her enormously”:37 The other day at the critiquing session, the teacher delivered some stunning compliments. “It’s a honey!” And she passed it around the class so that everyone could take a look—it’s very small, just 8 x 10. I was a bit embarrassed, because all I could see was an awkward attempt with the knife, but it seems that my colours and technique were perfect, as was my composition.38 Hughes and Browne were not the only ones to comment favourably on Boutal’s paintings. Another teacher who sometimes conducted a weekly critique of the students’ work was John Whorf, Browne’s assistant.39 Whorf was a popular and prolific artist known for his watercolours of village and fishing scenes, as well as for his spontaneous method of applying the paint and his realist approach. As Boutal described him in a letter,

115. Pauline Boutal, 1946.

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John Whorf is a famous watercolourist, one of the best in America. He lives here year-round. A student of Browne and Hawthorne, he presents both their methods, and his personality is surprising and stimulating. He swears like a trooper, drinks like a fish and walks with a cane, because an accident left him with a limp. With his beautiful head, topped by a fisherman’s cap, he has no doubt made many conquests. Now, at 46, he is a grandfather, but you wouldn’t think so.40

John Whorf According to Boutal, Whorf was an esteemed and “stimulating” teacher who, during his Saturday critiques, had a tendency to pass harsh judgement on the students’ work. But she added, “He nonetheless encouraged us, because his personality and knowledge are a real stimulant. For sure, we were small.”41 Whorf’s students may have felt “small, small” when he “cut apart each painting, into bitter pieces,” but his tough criticism gave his rare compliments “much greater value.”42 Nonetheless, Boutal seems to have come out of these sessions rather well. In fact, she even received compliments on some of her studies, surprisingly, in French: “Madame, votre dessin est excellent mais vous n’observez pas encore assez les nuances [Madam, your drawing is excellent, but you do not yet study the nuances closely enough.]”43 Boutal felt “inordinately proud inside” at the compliment that followed:44 “‘You are very clever—but—beware of that.’ Coming from him, it was a bombshell in the classroom, because he doesn’t mince words. He is excessively severe, but truthful.”45 Henry Hensche Pauline Boutal also studied with the Impressionist painter Henry Hensche,46 who allied traditional influences in painting with Impressionist techniques. He recommended simplifying the application of paint by using a palette knife and encouraged his students to work outside under different conditions of light and weather. Pauline Boutal considered Hensche a “stunning colourist” who encouraged his students to find the “truth in our colours.”47 But if Hensche was admired for his abilities as a colourist, Boutal noted that it was not for his personality: Our teacher is making life hard for us. He’s very strict. Again today he repeated for perhaps the hundredth time, “I’ll kick you in the pants” until we have mastered his way of obtaining the fundamental colours in a portrait. The whole class was terrified at the start. It’s in stark contrast to Mr. Browne, who was delicacy itself and who never would have addressed a class with such arguments, although he was severe, nonetheless.… What a character!48 The students eventually got used to Hensche’s style and would laugh among themselves after he made an “outrageous outburst” or blew up and left the room.49 Hensche was “a real Bohemian” who “had one of those unimaginable vocabularies of slang.” Despite the teacher’s bellicose nature, some of his students, among them Boutal and Wilcox, had friendly exchanges with him and were even invited to his house. 101

116. Marcel Le Goff, c. 1947.

Boutal (Fig. 115) very much enjoyed her stay at the American school. On Cape Cod, she learned to see with a fresh eye: “It’s a summer to reflect, to analyze a nature that is new to me.”50 The maritime landscape awakened her spirit: “I am over my head in enchantment. In all my life, I have never had such an adventure and I cannot keep my eyes and ears open wide enough.”51 Boutal felt that the Cape Cod experience was a “godsend.” In a letter 7 August 1946 to Suzanne, she explains: The lessons I have drawn from this adventure will provide me with a significant supply of interesting things that will be a joy to me for many years to come. In these few weeks, I have taken in more than in 10 years of my life. Being in constant contact with people whose ambitions are the same as mine and I can listen to discussing subjects of enormous interest to me, I can’t help but learn, and in addition there are these encounters with figures who are distinguished 102

117. Suzanne Tremblay, c. 1947.

and almost always humble and charming, who, with a word of advice, open up our eyes to broad horizons. What a godsend! The atmosphere was made for spoiling me and making me happy. And I am.52

118. John Kennedy (aged 25), 1947.

Before leaving, Boutal had to make a selection of her drawings and paintings. She believed that she had “completed several interesting canvases and if all goes well I could have a dozen well executed paintings that I would be proud of ” (Fig. 113, 114).53 She resolved to work seriously on them upon her return to St. Boniface: I will do all I can to be able to paint a little each day and carry on with the studies I made here, it will be an opportunity to try out what I take away from this place in my head.54 When she got back, Boutal lost no time in putting the lessons she had learned into practice. She concentrated on portraits in oils, which remain among her most beautiful pieces. The paintings from that period stand out for their expressive quality. Executed with a spontaneity revealed in very large, free brushstrokes, the portraits demonstrate her mastery of capturing a first impression of her subject, and the calm energy they exude underlines a definite break with the precision of technical drawing. Pauline Boutal stated at the time that she painted “for myself, my pleasure, my diversion.”55 Paintings from this phase, such as John Kennedy (Fig. 118) and Portrait de Félix Gourbil (Fig. 120), were not commissioned, which allowed her to exercise a certain freedom in her approach. They are portraits she made for herself—of models, family members, or close friends. She also continued to produce portraits in pastels, including those of Father Émile Legault, Gabrielle Roy (Fig. 119), people in her circle, her brothers Marcel (Fig. 116) and Antoine, and Suzanne Tremblay (Fig. 117). Her experience during the courses in Provincetown allowed her to liberate her painter’s soul. But for Boutal, unlike many artists who went back to the Cape School of Art year after year, the courses served as a launching pad into the next phase of her artistic career. For the time being, however, the thought of returning to St. Boniface was a happy one: I admit that it will give me joy to see my little peninsula, my family, you and everything that makes up my life there, and despite my attachment to Provincetown, where I experienced genuine happiness, I often think of the moment that will bring me the pleasurable feeling of having come home. From the train I’ll watch it all going by, the outskirts of Saint-Boniface, the cathedral, the Red River, etc., and my heart will surely hammer in my chest.56

119. Gabrielle Roy, 1947.

120. Portrait de Félix Gourbil, 1948.

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Chapter 12

The Académie de la Grande Chaumière

My stay in Paris in 1948–49 wrought several changes in my tastes and aspirations regarding my work, which was still too tied to a discipline instilled by some 20 years of practising graphic arts; interesting, no doubt, but quite removed from painting and even rather hostile to any attempt at escape or freedom. First with André Lhote, and then at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière with Othon Friesz and Charles Picart-Ledoux, I tried to liberate myself from that discipline, to which I nonetheless owed so much. —Pauline Boutal, n.d.1

121. Île Saint-Louis, Paris, 1948–1949.

In 1948, then aged fifty-four, Pauline Boutal (Fig. 122) travelled to Paris to study art. The decision was not made lightly. Paris was then the capital city of art and attracted serious artists from all over the world. For Boutal, who had already taken courses in Canada and the United States, courses in Europe in a famous academy represented more specialized training.2 It was therefore with the goal of reaching the ultimate stage in her studies that she set out for Paris.

A Friend from Le Cercle Molière in Paris When Boutal arrived in Paris on 7 November 1948,3 she was welcomed by her good friend Léo Rémillard. He had been playing roles at Le Cercle Molière since 1944 and had been the chairman of its board since 1947. He had received the 1948 Best Actor Award at the Dominion Drama Festival in Ottawa for his performance in La donation, which Pauline Boutal had directed. As Boutal wrote: He took me to L’Hôtel and we had lunch. I was happy to see him, because I was completely disoriented. France did not change for every passing stranger. But the cost of living had risen steeply in

122. Pauline Boutal, Paris, 1948–1949.

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the city, even for those who travel on dollars. In the end, for the time being, I just tried to get my bearings.4 Léo Rémillard’s friendly presence in Paris was opportune in two ways. For one thing, he had found lodgings for her; for another, he shared her passion for the dramatic arts. In fact, he was in Paris to take drama courses with René Simon.5 The two friends established a ritual: on Sundays, they attended performances at the popular theatres or the Comédie-Française and then went to the Café de la Coupole.6 Pauline would never forget what he did for her in France: “I retain a lasting memory of how kind and helpful he was.”7 In 1976, at the age of eightytwo, she painted a view of the Place du Tertre atop Montmartre and presented it to him as a souvenir of their time together in Paris.8

Postwar Paris I admit that my confidence was shaken by the brawls of 11 November 1948 on the Champs-Élysées, the general strike, the trucks full of helmeted policemen with machine guns, the Red Cross ambulances parked by the Porte d’Orléans. —Pauline Boutal, 28 November 1949 9 Boutal, who was no stranger to France, recognized familiar places that she and Arthur had visited on their last trip.10 And while certain parts of Paris had retained their previous charm, they did not reflect the new reality of a city that was recovering from the ravages of war. Nonetheless, she declared that it was “strange how captivating this city is.”11 She moved into a hotel located at 86 Avenue de Breteuil, close to Les Invalides, where she had a single furnished room equipped with a stove for heating and cooking.12 The big attraction, since she intended to paint in this room, was the light. Because the building overlooked a wide boulevard, the houses across the way did not impede the view or the light coming in the window. Her room had “a southern exposure, and I therefore have sunshine almost all day when the sun shows itself.”13 Twenty years later, she was very pleased to find a still life (Fig. 123) that she had painted in the room on the Avenue de Breteuil: When I look at this painting again, what I see is my room with Madame Coutant, my landlady. My room and her Empire furniture fill my memory with all they meant to me. Those things never leave you.14 123. Nature morte (Bouteille et trois pommes) [Still life (Bottle and three apples)], 1948–1949.

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Once finding accommodations had been taken care of, Boutal first tried to enrol at the Académie Julian, where she discovered that the courses had started on October 1 and had been fully booked for two months. While there, she met two Winnipeg artists, Stephen Andrews and Douglas Morton, who suggested that she go to the studios of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where she learned that Montreal artist Denyse Gadbois was enrolled.15 She had arrived too late for the fall session, so she signed up for January. During the month of December, she presented herself at the studio of artist André Lhote, which was just twenty minutes from her hotel,16 close to the Montparnasse railway station in the Rue d’Odessa and behind the Arc-en-Ciel bar. As Boutal wrote in a letter to her mother on 29 November 1948, “And being Bohemian, it settled there! Paintings on the walls, mostly Cubist but not all. I’m eager to see how it goes, once we get started.”17

André Lhote Lhote, who was an adherent of Cubism, had Pauline Boutal act as an interpreter for his anglophone students, and having to translate his theories helped her gain a better understanding of modern art concepts.18 While she reported that her teacher’s tastes “ran to a rather less complicated way of painting,”19 she gradually came to have a more open mind where he was concerned: “I have only a limited admiration for his painting.… However, I saw some very attractive canvases he had painted in different exhibitions in Paris and the provinces.”20 André Lhote was “a master of modern painting and one of the best teachers of our era.”21 Boutal liked his classes very much, “despite his exaggerated biases and his scathing critiques”:22 A. Lhote’s sessions are delicious. For example, something he doesn’t like in a study: “It’s a general colic! Running off in all directions!” When the noise of voices is too loud: “I’m telling you, it’s a birdhouse up there”—he has a rather pronounced Midi accent.23 Lhote was famous for his strong personality and for the fact that he could be “sometimes dangerous for certain of his pupils” who lacked character.24 This did not seem to be a problem for Boutal, as can be seen in a self-portrait (Fig. 124) she produced in Paris. She represented herself as a self-confident person of conviction, with a severity in her gaze that evokes classical self-portraits, and a tight format in which the subject is cut off at the shoulders and takes up two-thirds of the field. She did not attempt to beautify herself or focus on the details of her sombre clothing. The repetition of diagonal brush strokes in the

124. Autoportrait [Self-portrait], 1949.

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background gives the portrait greater energy. To obtain the best rendition of the subject, she enhanced the severity of the dark pigment used for the eyes by adding a scarf of an intense red around her neck. The red is echoed in the closed lips, the cheeks and ear, and connects the head and clothing with a common colour. The study was painted in January, in her badly heated room in Paris. She had a cold and wore the scarf because her throat was sore.25

The Académie de la Grande Chaumière La Grande Chaumière. Picture a block of attached houses, fairly old, with worn stairs, a smell of paint, varnish, frites and sausage—there’s a bistro next door—and whose halls are full of laughter and voices at the beginning and end of the day. The young people are fairly turbulent. This is the Académie Colarossi, an outbuilding of La Grande Chaumière, which is at Number 14. We’re at Number 10. —Pauline Boutal, 5 March 1949 26 The Académie de la Grande Chaumière27 (Fig. 125) was established in 1909 and enjoyed an excellent reputation. Artists like Antoine Bourdelle and Charles Despiau had passed through its doors, as well as several Canadians, among them Alfred Pellan, Jean-Paul Lemieux, René Richard, and Rodolphe Duguay. The academy, which was famous for studies of nudes,28 was named after the street in which it was located, the Avenue de la Grande Chaumière, close to the Boulevard Montparnasse. It encompassed a number of ramshackle buildings whose “dilapidation had a rather unique charm.”29 Seen from the street, the studio where Boutal’s courses were held was at the end of “a dark, smelly passage” closed off with a very low door. The studio was in the yard. Upon entering, the artists had to go down several steps, which led to some comical adventures:

125. Académie de la Grande Chaumière, 14 Rue de la Grande Chaumière, Montparnasse, Paris, 2004.

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A few steps to go down and you pass beneath a lovely tree that grows in the middle of this narrow Parisian patch of yard, in which you quickly detect a slight air of the provinces, even the country, thanks to the chickens and rabbits roaming there in complete freedom. It probably won’t surprise you to hear that this caused several awkward moments, at least regarding the chickens, since discipline and correctness are the least of their concerns. And you will guess that their no doubt innocent idea of using our outdoor stairway as a roost often had disastrous consequences.30

126. Nature morte (Poires et prunes) [Still life (Pears and plums)], 1948–1949.

The studio’s lively atmosphere was amusing to see and hear, especially given the cacophony set up by the hens and rooster:

127. Femme assise, robe verte [Seated woman, green dress], 1948–1949.

There’s a sculpture studio above ours. One of the models is either a singer or a singer in training. She warbles like Juliet. And then… then, you should hear the chickens from the bistro! The singer goes a o o o o o o o o. The chickens go co co co co ca ca ca ca! You’d think they were performing a call and response. And the rooster! You should hear the rooster! It makes him furious! It’s very funny. Yesterday… (after a year), they swept the stairs that lead to the studio. It was a major event. But you know, that’s Paris.31 Once accustomed to this “country” atmosphere and the “faint smell of a farmyard because of the chickens and rabbits being raised in several sheds,”32 the artist was happy with her choice: “I am continuing my classes at La Grande Chaumière with enthusiasm. I am happy, you have no idea. It has atmosphere.”33 Among the academy’s staff were such artists as Ossip Zadkine, Édouard MacAvoy, Yves Brayer, Othon Friesz,34 and Charles PicartLedoux,35 some of whom had taken part in exhibitions with Matisse, Braque, and Picasso. Boutal chose to take classes with Picart-Ledoux, since he was an excellent teacher36 and had only twenty students, while MacAvoy’s courses and Brayer’s were overflowing. Moreover, PicartLedoux’s classes at the Colarossi studio were held in the afternoon, which suited her. Aged sixty-seven at the time, Picart-Ledoux was a painter of nudes with an insistence on drawing and a good knowledge of colour and mixing paints.37 He considered that only after having learned to master these three aspects should an artist begin to create work.38 He thought that Boutal was “making tremendous progress with her colours” (Fig. 126, 127),39 and on his advice she went to see the pieces by Manet at the Louvre, where she made a special study of the master’s painting.40

A Constantly Changing Studio Atmosphere Boutal found that the people at neighbouring easels in Picart-Ledoux’s studio often knew more than she did and that some were quite eccentric.41 But just watching them paint was instructive: There are some odd characters in the studios. The other day, one of them came in and stood right behind me, just indescribable. Long, bedraggled hair, too dirty to be touched with a barge pole. He smelled of grease, like the buses from the stockyards. The tip of the 113

128. Étude de nus [Study of nudes], 1949.

130. Nu féminin [Female nude], 1948–1949.

129. Étude de nu [Study of nude], 1949.

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thumb sticking through his palette was like a half-moon in mourning. But you should have seen his work with the palette knife! It was clean and luminous. Others are working in Modern. But they are all interesting. Their way of painting is truly individual. Some only come because there is a model they like. They are artists who pay by the class, like us (70 francs) instead of working in their studio —for a change. There are some who are quite old, in their sixties, and who several years ago were in the company of Soutine, Chagall, Modigliani, Pascin, etc.42

131. Étude, Nu féminin assis [Study, seated female nude], 1949.

Despite the constantly changing attendance at the studios, Pauline Boutal was able to make several friends, and it goes without saying that visits to artists’ studios and the sessions at the academy were a stimulant. Sculptor Ossip Zadkine43 is one of the artists who had a studio at La Grande Chaumière and others often dropped in—like Georges Braque who, during one of Boutal’s classes, paid a visit to the teacher:44 “After all, it’s the Bohemian Paris of the arts!”45 Another person who attracted her attention was the course assistant, Mr. Valet, who not only organized the studio, chose the models and ran 115

the business end, but who also advised the students.46 Picart-Ledoux, who only visited the classroom on Thursdays to critique the work, was a “teacher full of charm… cultured, but also friendly,”47 and he attracted all kinds of artists to his classes, young and old, French and foreign. Like Boutal, one of Picart-Ledoux’s friends, Michel Kikoïne, a French painter of Russian origin, attended the open sessions: “My neighbour for this week is an unusual type. Imagine a completely round little man, round face, round eyes, grey curly hair.”48 In a talk given at the Alliance Française, on 28 November 1949, Boutal recounts the story of this interesting conversationalist: Among them was a former resident of the famous La Ruche, where Fernand Léger, Soutine, Chagall, Modigliani, Pascin, etc. got their start. Our easels were next to each other and sometimes, between poses, we chatted. I never tired of listening to him. His advice, his picturesque comments on painting did me a great deal of good. When he talked about his friend Modigliani, his accent became fascinating.49 That’s how Pauline Boutal came to know Kikoïne and visit his studio. She wrote, “Oh, it would have been a dream to have a studio like that!”50 She added that she would like to share such a simple, comfortable Paris studio with her friend Georgie Wilcox.51 The work of the old artist, “Mr. Michel,” is “beautiful and poetic”: “His paint is like enamel. … For him, painting is colour. And he’s right.”52 Boutal also accepted an invitation to the studio of illustrator Ludovic Lucien Madrassi.53 She was happy to “see the work of a painter who was one of my favourites”54 at the time when the Le Goff family subscribed to L’Illustration. She found Madrassi and his wife very courteous: “I was thrilled to see his paintings. A charming man, he welcomed me like an old acquaintance.”55 However, on visiting his studio and those of other artists, Boutal regretted not having rented a two-room lodging where she could live and work: “Oh, if only I could have one like that!” As well as being short on space, she was uneasy painting in her little room “for fear of flinging paint on the walls”:56 I would have been better off with a studio where I could work comfortably. In my room, that is hardly possible, I run the risk of dropping blobs of paint or oil on the waxed hardwood! Even in the provinces or the suburbs of Paris, I’m sure that I would make much better progress than in the studio where there is a surplus of students and therefore less space. In the end, I am nonetheless very happy with what I accomplished. But I have to work very hard.57

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“Paris makes you dream”58 Postwar Paris teemed with artists, especially in the cafés of Montparnasse, where painters, sculptors, and writers gathered. Paul Virilio, a young student attending the Académie de la Grande Chaumière like Boutal, described the very full life that a student could lead in that artistic universe: At that time, our stars were Matisse or Braque in painting, Sartre in philosophy, Gide in literature. I must emphasize that most of these figures were accessible and it was easy for a young person to meet them.59 Pauline Boutal (Fig. 132) threw herself into this new adventure as a student in Paris, and the months she spent there brought a wealth of experiences. She made the tour of the galleries and saw numerous exhibitions, among them shows by her teachers, André Lhote and Othon Friesz. She discovered the paintings of Édouard Vuillard60 and Marie Laurencin and enjoyed those of Nicolas de Largillière. She visited the Musée national d’art moderne,61 the national museum of modern art, several times, to explore new French trends.62 She was impressed by modern art, and described that style of artistic expression as a “curious spectacle that has been going on forever.”63 However, painting in the modern style was not that simple: I saw a beautiful exhibition of moderns this week. The more I look at it, the more I consider myself silly for not having tried to do the same… But simplicity is not easy. I will perhaps get there. I am not discouraged.64 This lesson would prove useful, and in the future she would always greet new trends with an open mind.

The Student Life in Paris The pleasure of trotting off into the morning’s pearly fog in search of small shows to see over by St-Germain des Prés and in the surrounding streets, Rue de Seine, Rue de l’Abbaye, Boulevard Raspail, etc. So in the mornings, I would do a little work in my room.… But most often I would go out. —Pauline Boutal, 28 November 1949 65 Boutal had the benefit of being able to spend her mornings strolling around Paris. She also took advantage of the opportunity to see the city

132. Pauline Boutal, Paris, c. 1948–1949.

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133. Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris, 1948–1949.

after classes: “Whenever I get out early, I wander.”66 She would go past the Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité, and stop to watch the boats on the Seine or examine the quays and their boutiques. She contemplated old monuments and paid great attention to the details. She had an interest in architecture, and the streets of Paris became the primary subject of her Parisian paintings, such as Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, Église Saint-Étienne du Mont, Paris (Fig. 135), and Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris, with the accompanying Étude, Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris (Fig. 133, 134). On the esplanades, she lingered to admire the displays of the boutiques, booksellers, and florists: 134. Étude, Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris [Study], 1948–1949.

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The outdoor displays of flowers, like those you can see almost anywhere in Paris, next to the Église de la Madeleine or at the

135. Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 1948–1949.

Porte d’Orléans, for example, were a feast for the eyes, on those raw winter days.67 Boutal was also fascinated by the scenes taking place around her (Fig. 136, 137, 138):68 Small street scenes, conversations that are animated, cheeky, insulting, loving, serious! In all, the thousand and one facets of the Parisian sidewalk combine with the Paris of pleasure and the Paris of intellect and the mind to make it a unique place.… There is only one Paris!69

136. Garçon dans le métro [Boy in the métro], 1948–1949.

Aside from her Sunday ritual with Léo Rémillard, Boutal saw few people except Gabrielle Roy and her husband, Dr. Marcel Carbotte. They were two old friends and former actors from Le Cercle Molière, and she received a very warm invitation from Roy: I still expect to see you at Saint-Germain, and I hope that without troubling or tiring yourself too much, you will soon be able to come. First I would like to show you our little dwelling, which we like very much, and where we will be able to talk at our ease. Please give us the pleasure of dining with us. You could come in the afternoon, so that we would have time to exchange all the news.… We are very eager to see you, please make it soon. With our friendly regards.70 Unfortunately, the Carbottes lived in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the opportunity to visit with her friends did not present itself very often.

137. Dessins, Paris [Drawings, Paris], 1948–1949.

138. Étude, Roulottes [Study, caravans], 1948–1949.

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The Decision to Leave Paris Before leaving, Boutal took part in an exhibition by twelve Canadian student painters that was initiated by General Vanier, Canada’s ambassador to France.71 The exhibition was organized under the auspices of the Accueil franco-canadien and showed for three weeks in a gallery on the Île Saint-Louis. There were three Manitoban artists included: Pauline Boutal, Stephen Andrews, and Douglas Morton. The goal was to attract the attention of Parisians to Canadian artists who, according to Boutal, produced solid work and demonstrated vitality and a good deal of imagination.72 She was thrilled to be participating in this show, where she met other Canadian artists, among them Jean-Paul Lemieux.73 She also took part in the end of term show at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and she was asked by the president of the Manitoba Society of Artists and her former Brigdens colleague James MacGregor to submit

139. Roulottes de cirque, Campement de forains à Montparnasse [Circus Vans at Montparnasse], 1948–1949.

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140. Etude, Bergerac [Study, Bergerac], 1949.

some work for the March show in Winnipeg. She sent him the oil painting Roulottes de cirque, Paris (Fig. 139), which remained, along with Île Saint-Louis, Paris (Fig. 121), among the favoured pieces that she would keep until her death. That same year, her work was also included in an exhibition by Canadian artists at the National Gallery of Canada.74 The nine months spent in Paris were a very happy period in Boutal’s life. At the end of June, after a short visit to Bergerac (Fig. 140, 141) and Brittany, she left Paris for St. Boniface. It was a difficult decision: “If it weren’t for my family and friends, one friend in particular, I assure you that I would extend my stay in France indefinitely, yes, indefinitely.”75 In a letter written 30 March 1949, she confides to Suzanne that she is at peace with her decision to return to St. Boniface: Oh, my heart is also both sad and overjoyed. Sad to be leaving this city that I love so much. Overjoyed to see relatives and friends again —and you, Suzette—my friend through good times and bad.76 Having completed his drama course, Léo Rémillard was also returning to St. Boniface. On 27 June 1949, Boutal left Le Havre for New York on the liner De Grasse.77 Her departure marked the end of her fine arts training and the beginning of an active period of production.

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141. Bergerac, 1949.

Chapter 13

More than Forty Years of Work

Even in my reluctance to leave Paris, a city which had completely won me over, I could anticipate a sort of compensation: coming back to familiar faces, useful work, which will nonetheless leave me the time, I hope, to do what I love best—painting! —Pauline Boutal, 25 April 1949 1

142. Vieux magasin, rue York [Old store, York Street], 1951–1952.

Pauline Boutal, having fulfilled her dream of studying art at an academy in Paris, once again took up her role in the francophone community of St. Boniface. Upon her return, she made an abrupt decision to sell the property at 470 Horace Street and move into an apartment. In the fall of 1949, she left La Péninsule, her residence for twenty years, and moved to the Noella Building at 272 Avenue de la Cathédrale. It was there, hidden away in Apartment 5 and having set up her living room as a studio, that she would produce her artistic output for the next thirteen years (Fig. 143). In September 1950, with two other artists, Jan Kamienski and Victor Friesen, she was invited to take part in an exhibition to be held in the studio of Phillips-Gutkin and Associates2 at 432 Main Street in Winnipeg. One of the pieces she showed was the portrait of Father Pierquin (Fig. 144); subsequently, commissioned portraits came to make up a significant portion of her production for the 1950s and of her general body of work. Commissions for Official Portraits Official portraits are of great importance to the career of a painter like Boutal. As well as the benefit of having work permanently displayed in a public place like Manitoba’s legislature, the genre brings the painter a certain prestige, credibility among peers, and further commissions. Contracts for official portraits are well regarded by artists and well paid. With Newton Brett and Victor Long, Boutal received a commission to paint the portraits of two Speakers of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, Robert Hawkins and Nicholas Volodymir Bachynsky. An official portrait nonetheless requires the artist to adhere to certain standards. What is always essential is a close resemblance, and

143. Pauline Boutal before the portrait of Nicholas Volodymir Bachynsky, Speaker of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, 1957.

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144. Révérend père Pierquin, c. 1950.

145. Joseph-Philippe Guay, 1969. The mayors’ portraits are on permanent display at the St. Boniface City Hall.

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Boutal’s portrait of Bachynsky was a great success in that regard, as demonstrated by a photograph published in the Winnipeg Tribune of 27 September 1957. However, the dimensions of the painting and the frame must conform to those of the other portraits on display, and the large format forced her to find a workspace that would give her more room than her living-room studio. She was able to obtain permission to use the academic hall at the Collège de Saint-Boniface.3 Over the years, Boutal completed several commissions from the St. Boniface City Council4 for official portraits of recent mayors: Joseph Gustave Van Belleghem (Fig. 146, 147, 148), Lieutenant-Colonel George Campbell MacLean, Joseph-Philippe Guay (Fig. 145), and Edward Christopher Turner. Two commissions for portraits of members of the clergy, the Reverend Brothers T.H. Bruns and Provencher, were conferred

147. Étude 1, Joseph Van Belleghem [Study 1], 1957.

146. Joseph Van Belleghem, 1957.

by the St. Boniface school board. She agreed to produce the portrait of another ecclesiastical dignitary, Archbishop Baudoux, at the request of the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, for which she had previously painted Archbishop Béliveau. She undertook the project with enthusiasm: “I was full of ardour and worked on it for only 3 weeks. Which is to say that I worked non-stop.”5 She was given all the freedom she could have wished for to complete the piece: I posed him in a characteristic posture, standing, with his hands behind his back, which gives him height and that’s what I wanted. I am happy with it and I hope that the gentlemen on the Committee will be also.6

148. Étude 2, Joseph Van Belleghem [Study 2], 1957.

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Although official portraits represented a decent amount of revenue for that time, the well-paid commissions were not plentiful and painters had to find other sources of income. Boutal went back to graphic illustration on a freelance basis. She illustrated ads for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s graphic arts department and also painted narrative scenes from childhood,7 a popular theme in the 1950s, especially for calendars. In her painting Boy with dog (Fig. 150), which was produced for the collection of the Bulman Bros. printing company,8 she presented the idealized scene of a young boy accompanied by his dog waiting patiently to catch a fish. In a winter scene, Écoliers se rendant à l’école [Children going to school] (Fig. 151), the viewer’s gaze is directed to the three children in the foreground, obediently making their way to school while in the background some figures can be seen skating in the park. In another scene, Ruelle de la rue Notre-Dame, Winnipeg [The lane off Notre-Dame Street, Winnipeg] (Fig. 152), the children pulling a red wagon are busy delivering newspapers. Boutal also renewed her contract with the Clerics of Saint Viator in 1952 for a series of calendars on the theme of the Seven Sorrows.

149. Loulou B., 1958.

150. Boy with dog, c. 1950.

The Manitoba Society of Artists Annual Sale Boutal of course relied on the Manitoba Society of Artists annual exhibition and sale as a way to reach the general public with her work. The event was held every year in the halls of the prestigious Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the selection of pieces to be shown was made by a committee that favoured professional artists. For that reason, the exhibition drew collectors and hundreds of viewers who returned year after year, and it could also lead to commissions. Even if her livelihood did not depend on these sales, Boutal expected to earn a modest amount of revenue that would help to satisfy a desire to travel:

151. Écoliers se rendant à l’école [Children going to school], 1954.

I’ve sold—at least, I think I have—one of the small pieces I sent to the Man. Soc. of Artists expo. Once the gallery’s commission has been paid, and of course the framing, I hope to clear fifty dollars—Bingo! —into the fund marked Travel.9 And so, each year, Boutal produced three or four pieces specifically for the show. In order to attract customers, she had to adapt her art to the requirements of the buyers: small-sized canvases suitable for living rooms, colours that go well together, and pleasing subjects, such as the landscapes Église Fort Alexandre and Vieux magasin, rue York [Old store, York Street] (Fig. 142), as well as private portraits. She painted many portraits of children; for example, Jeannot and Loulou B. (Fig. 149),

152. Ruelle de la rue Notre-Dame, Winnipeg [The lane by Notre-Dame Street, Winnipeg], n.d.

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which appeared in the Manitoba Society of Artists exhibitions in 1956 and 1958. Children and families were popular subjects in the 1950s.

Family Portraits In order to advertise her talent as a portraitist and generate commissions, Boutal regularly submitted portraits to exhibitions. With this in mind, she asked members of her family and her friends to serve as models, as demonstrated by the numerous sketches of her nephew Jean-Pierre in varied poses (Fig. 153, 154, 155). Pauline’s mother, Louise Le Goff (Fig. 156), was the subject of a dual portrait exhibited by the MSA in 1951, followed by another in 1958 of her sister, Suzanne Hubicki, with daughter Margot. In the portrait of her sister Christiane Le Goff (Fig. 159), produced in 1957, the sense of familiarity can be attributed to the close relationship between the artist and her youngest sister, who was nicknamed Coussie. What engages the viewer is the model’s gaze, contemplating the artist and seemingly waiting for the signal to resume her reading. Boutal presents her little sister in a very natural way, in soft light. Christiane has not adopted an elegant pose; on the contrary, she seems relaxed, leaning back in a chair against a wall. In contrast to the official portraits, Christiane is seen from a three-quarter angle, is placed off-centre in the frame, and appears to direct our attention to her sister, the artist. From childhood, Christiane had been accustomed to posing for portraits (Fig. 158). In the drawing of her sister titled Coussie (Fig. 157), Boutal depicts the young Christiane herself making a sketch on a drawing board. Christiane had vivid memories of this time: “All I saw was drawing, and more drawing, and then making prints and drawing… When I was very small I tried to make small drawings. My father drew, my grandfather drew … and then Pauline encouraged me.”10

Following in the Footsteps of Their Older Sister Pauline and Christiane had a very strong relationship (Fig. 160), one that went beyond mere sisterly affection. They were both graphic artists with a passion for the theatre, and thus twin souls, and it appears that mutual esteem and admiration kept them closely allied all their lives. Pauline encouraged her young sister to draw:

153, 154, 155. Studies 1, 2, 3, Maman et Jean-Pierre, 1950.

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The next time I make a sketching trip I’ll take her with me. That would be enormously interesting for her. When I see some of the empty heads around us, I wonder why we, the Le Goffs, are such cowards—always shaking in our shoes. My goodness! I intend to

156. Maman et Jean-Pierre [Maman and Jean-Pierre], 1950.

give her the benefit of the knowledge I’ve gained here, and I’m sure that in a short time she’ll be tops—With her talent, it couldn’t be otherwise. Yet again I’ll be proud of my little sister.11 Like Pauline, Christiane took courses at the Winnipeg School of Art and then held the same position—fashion illustrator for Brigdens—from the 1930s until the 1970s. The two sisters stood out as the stars of the fashion department.12 Christiane also followed her elder sister to Le Cercle Molière where, from 1928 to 1969, she was an actor, set and costume designer, and director. She won multiple awards at the Dominion Drama Festival and received the Canadian Drama Award for her contribution to Canadian theatre. But Christiane was not the only member of the family to follow Pauline’s example with a career in fashion illustration at Brigdens. In 1923, her sister Suzanne (Hubicki) took art courses at the Winnipeg Auditorium and went on to work as an illustrator, also at Brigdens. In 131

157. Coussie, 1920.

158. Christiane, c. 1930.

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1938, Suzanne married the musician Taras Hubicki and they moved to Detroit, where she continued to do fashion illustration for the Frank & Seder company. Their daughter, Margot, born in 1946, would become an illustrator of children’s books under the name Margot Apple. Marie (Kennedy) is the only one of the Le Goff sisters who did not work at Brigdens, but she took up the same trade—she made hats at Eaton’s. However, her daughter Louise (Zizi) took courses at the Winnipeg School of Art in 1949 and began her career as a fashion illustrator with the firm of Phillips-Gutkin and Associates, and then from 1950 to 1954 worked with her Aunt Christiane at Brigdens. Christiane, Suzanne, Marie, Louise, and their mother were all committed to helping Pauline at Le

159. Christiane, c. 1957.

Cercle Molière by making or designing sets and costumes, acting, and even directing.

Portraits of Friends Boutal, who in her costume sketches was so skilled at capturing the comical aspect of her actors in character, was also able to present their serious side in portraiture, as can be seen in her portraits of Suzanne Tremblay and Monique Guyot. In Suzanne’s portrait (Fig. 161), which Boutal gave to her following Tremblay’s departure for Montreal in 1960,

160. Christiane and Pauline, 1958.

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161. Suzanne Tremblay, c. 1961.

162. Monique Guyot, c. 1961.

the portraitist has given her friend a sophisticated look. The subject is wearing an elegant evening dress; the pose is dignified; everything in the staging works together to give the painting a graceful air. The portrait reflects the dignity of a woman who had worked for fifteen years at the French consulate in Winnipeg, before taking up a position at Montreal’s Place des Arts as head of the department handling protocol and social events.13 Taking pride in her young protégée, Boutal wrote: It pleases me to think of you swimming in receptions, convinced that your bosses and colleagues will appreciate your tasteful dress, charm and diplomatic dexterity—going far back and old habits.… I hope you will also bring honour to St. Bobo, the village of your birth.14 134

Tremblay’s departure in 1960 separated them geographically, but they maintained their friendship with a weekly exchange of letters that would span twenty years. Boutal was a faithful correspondent, more faithful than her young friend, who preferred to communicate by telephone. “Try to write me! You’ll learn to love this method: a few lines, straight from the heart, tossed off on paper, uninhibited, as in conversation,” wrote Boutal in August 1964.15 In Suzanne’s portrait, the artist emphasized her friend’s sensitivity with delicate facial features and long hands,16 one of which is holding a book. It is a book by Molière, and as Molière symbolizes the theatre, placing this book in Suzanne Tremblay’s hand was a reference to their passion for the theatre. In 1961, Boutal asked her friend Monique Guyot (Fig. 162), who acted with Le Cercle Molière from 1953 to 1962, to pose for her. Monique recalled that the artist had instructed her to stand as she was often seen, in her habitual pose with her arms crossed. Monique reported that Boutal did not try to beautify her, but she did manage to capture the Guyot family expression. She recounted how Boutal “had made an exact study on a six-inch scrap of paper before starting in on the portrait. In addition, on another scrap of paper, she did a study of the skin tones. They had to be just the right colour.… Madame Boutal herself said that she had painted it with a sure hand.”17 Guyot described as follows the hour-long sessions that took place on Sunday afternoons at Boutal’s apartment over eleven weeks: She talked constantly. She would stop to have a cigarette. I stood in a corner close to the light and she would face me, from fairly far away. When her work was done, she would cover it with a scarf so that I couldn’t see it. I only saw it at our unveiling. That evening, we had bought some champagne and she unveiled the painting. Madame Boutal said: “It’s really you, with your café au lait colouring and sad puppy eyes.”18 Boutal submitted this portrait to the Manitoba Society of Artists exhibition and, according to one critic, who dubbed it Raven Haired Beauty, it was very successful: “By far the best portrait in the exhibition.”19 From then on, the Guyot family called their sister the Raven Haired Beauty. Since it was not commissioned, but painted by Boutal for her own pleasure, Monique begged for many years to be allowed to buy it from her before she finally consented.

163. Lise Guyot, c. 1962.

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Portraits in Pastels Working with pastels, the artist was able to capture that initial, revealing impression of personality with greater sensitivity. Monique and Léonie Guyot asked Boutal for a portrait of their niece, Lise Guyot (Fig. 163), who certainly did not lack for personality. At the age of three, Lise did not share her aunts’ admiration for the artist. The two sisters recounted how, at the end of a sitting, the young model climbed off the stool to study her portrait and declared, in an offended tone, “My hair ithn’t yellow like that!”20 Lise later recalled that she was not favourably impressed with having her top lowered to expose her shoulders.21 In any case, pastel portraits of children were very popular with customers in St. Boniface. They could be done quickly, usually in a small format, and could be sold at a good price. Boutal’s pastels carried the mark of an artist who had mastered the use of colour and had a long experience of drawing.

Still Life The still life is another subject that has a special appeal for collectors, and the genre (Fig. 165, 166, 167, 168) offered the artist several advantages. Boutal did not have to rely on models to produce a painting; she only had to create a composition using objects from her daily life. Often, when in the midst of working on a portrait, she would paint a still life between sittings, and given how quickly they could be done, she could complete one in a single afternoon. While the successive layers of paint in a portrait were drying, she could produce several at a time, since the still life did not require meticulous brushwork. A still life provides a view of the artist’s private world: a soup tureen, tablecloth, onions, bottle of wine—insignificant subjects representing the daily life of Pauline Boutal. Her still life pieces are in fact miniature stage sets drawn from her personal realm (Fig. 164), although indoor scenes did not really hold her interest, a feeling she expressed in a November 1973 letter to Suzanne Tremblay: I have worked a little at my painting since I came back, nothing much, a study of flowers, just to get back in touch with the whims of the palette knife and the colours.22

164. Nature morte (Bouteille et oignons) [Still life (Bottle and onions)], n.d.

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Boutal also took up the tradition of painting bouquets of flowers. She approached it in the manner of artists she admired, such as Renoir and Manet, who would use the subject for studies of such aspects as the effect of light on colour. Boutal’s bouquets, although recognizable as zinnias, peonies, and roses, blithely ignore precision and detail in favour of a

fresh, free touch. The flowers lent themselves especially well to her full, highly coloured style, as well as allowing her to work with the palette knife (Fig. 169).

Landscapes from Her Travels Another subject highly prized by collectors is the landscape. Scenes from Boutal’s travels, especially seaports, remained an irresistible source of inspiration. During the 1950s, she had two opportunities to renew her love of the sea during visits to her brother Antoine Le Goff, then living in Vancouver. She took advantage of the opportunity to visit galleries with her mother, where she saw paintings by, among others, Emily Carr and Maurice Cullen; but above all, she liked to head off to the ports, where the boats seemed to capture her attention (Fig. 170, 171): I stroll mostly around the port on the shore. You know what my tastes are. What a pull they exert on my imagination, all these boats, tugboats and yachts. The smell of a port, whether it’s from oil, coal, rigging or simply the smell of the water, the seaweed, has a mysterious power over me.23 She felt inspired and could let her imagination run free: “There are so many things to paint out here.”24 The travellers also organized trips to the Oregon coast, where they rented a cottage on the beach. Boutal used her time by the ocean to make “a few studies, unfinished,”25 which she intended to rework once she returned from her travels. This was recommended by her good friend Georgie Wilcox, who told her, “You can have a good time giving them a lick at home.”26 Tim Le Goff, her nephew, recalled his Aunt Pauline telling him about her compositions.27 She would recreate landscapes by combining features from different places and arranging them in the foreground of a painting, as with Haystack Rock and The Needles on the Oregon coast.28 Two pieces inspired by this trip, Semiachako Bay and Coal Harbour (Fig. 170), were featured in the Manitoba Society of Artists exhibition of 1953. The travel landscape, a common subject for artists of Boutal’s generation, remained a favourite among art lovers but gradually became the target of negative criticism by the younger members of the Manitoba Society of Artists. While the refined technique of their academically trained colleagues was still popular with the public, a trend to the nonfigurative among art critics soon relegated the genre to what Boutal would call, many years later, the “old school.”29

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165. Poisson et pomme, une étude [Fish and apple, a study], n.d.

166. Nature morte (Poires et raisins) [Still life (Pears and grapes)], n.d.

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The Winnipeg Art Scene in the 1950s In mid-century, a renaissance occurred in Canada, driven by a new generation of artists who opened themselves up to an expressive gestural language. Figurative art, especially the portrait, was no longer in fashion, and abstraction took hold in Winnipeg as it did elsewhere in Canada. The Manitoba Society of Artists then turned to abstract art, and artists it had long favoured, such as Georgie Wilcox, Newton Brett, and Pauline Boutal, found themselves dealing with selection criteria that had begun to exclude them. The MSA’s juries were composed of younger members, adherents to trends that led to the selection of abstract works. In 1954, the Winnipeg School of Art’s director, artist William Ashby McCloy, published a scathing article in the Winnipeg Tribune denouncing the traditional portraitists whose work was shown in the annual exhibition. In particular, he attacked the long-standing members like Pauline Boutal, calling them “old standbys” whose competence he considered to be questionable:

167. Nature morte (Poire et pommes) [Still life (Pear and apples)], detail, c. 1950.

As usual there are not very many who are willing to attack the problem of painting people, and most, unfortunately, are content to limit themselves to likeness catching, which is an occupational disease of portrait painters.... This is especially true of the two portraits by Pauline Boutal, who can do much better, but it is also true of Mrs. Wilcox’s… More or less typical works are on display by the following well-known Wpgers … Newton Brett, Barbara Cook, Jean Eyden, James MacGregor and Lynn Sissons.30 The artists were vigorously defended in letters to the editor. McCloy’s attack was considered misplaced, and one reader liked his work even less, seeing in it only distortions without beauty or technique and a real artistic abyss.31 Boutal kept an open mind regarding this public rejection, even if the respect she displayed was not reciprocated. In fact, the exhibition jury for 1957, on which she sat, chose more abstract works than usual,32 according to the Winnipeg Tribune of 26 March. And more curiously still, in order to promote the show, the Winnipeg Tribune and Winnipeg Free Press published photographs of paintings by “old standbys” like Georgie Wilcox, Newton Brett, Alison Newton, and Pauline Boutal! Despite the new trend, Boutal’s works continued to be reproduced in Winnipeg newspapers: Île Saint-Louis, Paris in 1950, Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris in 1951, and Loulou B. in 1958, to mention just a few. The caption accompanying the photograph of Loulou B. in the Winnipeg Free Press of 31 January 1958 describes Boutal as “long a favourite at MSA shows.”33

168. Nature morte (Assiette bleue), détail, vers 1950 [Still life (Blue plate)], detail, c. 1950.

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169. Étude (Bouquet de fleurs) [Study (Bouquet of flowers)], detail, 1962.

Throughout the 1950s, she remained one of the most popular members of the Manitoba Society of Artists and sold two or three of her pieces at each annual exhibition. And while Boutal maintained a solid reputation in Winnipeg as a member of its art community, she was coming to be known in St. Boniface as the “Grande Dame of Le Cercle Molière.”

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170. Coal Harbour, Vancouver, c. 1953–1957.

171. Bateaux de pêche [Fishing boats], c. 1953–1957.

Chapter 14

Le Cercle Molière and the Francophone Community

Over the 42 years that I’ve belonged to the CM [Le Cercle Molière], I’ve collected a wealth of souvenirs, which are now scattered and tend to vanish. All things considered, you know better than anyone how I attached I am to what was accomplished, in a completely disinterested way, simply out of inclination and because it gave me pleasure to make a generous gift of the little that Heaven has granted me. —Pauline Boutal, 30 July 1967 1

172. Maître Jacques, L’avare, costume drawing, 1950.

Beginning in 1950, when she returned from studying at the fine arts academy in Paris, Pauline Boutal (Fig. 173) enjoyed increased prestige in the francophone community. In speeches, talks and interviews on the radio and in print, some of them in English, she was asked to address a variety of topics, mostly related to theatre and the arts, which she continued to do until 1974. For example, upon her return from Paris, she gave a talk at the Alliance Française on her studies in the City of Light, and presented “Regards sur les arts français en Amérique du Nord [A look at French arts in North America]” on CKSB radio; this was followed over the years by “L’état des arts au Canada [The status of the arts in Canada],” “Quelques aspects de l’art canadien [Some aspects of Canadian art],” “Paris ville du monde [Paris, the world’s city],” and “The Evolution of French Language Theatre in Manitoba,” among other lectures and addresses. During the 1950s and 1960s, Boutal gave a lot of time to community service, and the hours devoted to the many related obligations, as well as those spent as director of Le Cercle Molière, took away from pursuing her painting as she would have liked. It was a sentiment she expressed in a July 1967 letter: As for the numerous set designs for the Collège or some other group, I think that I have never been able to refuse to help out. Of course you know that, too, because you have often reproached me, you thought it was too exhausting. Today, Suzanne, you would not believe how happy I am to have been able to give.2

173. Pauline Boutal and the cast of La donation, 1948. Left to right: Louis Souchon, Armand LaFlèche, Robert Trudel, Pauline Simon, Pauline Boutal, and Léo Rémillard.

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The Artist at the Service of Her Community Boutal was deeply attached to the francophone community and did not know how to refuse the requests from different groups for various kinds of support. In one case, she painted panels for the Oblate sisters; two nuns, Sister Marie Immaculée and Sister Louise du Sacré-Coeur, offered their assistance to help complete the project,3 which was unveiled on 8 December 1950. In August 1953, she agreed to make pastel drawings of historical scenes featuring Archbishop Langevin for the academic hall at the Collège de Saint-Boniface. The series was intended for the Fifth Congress of the Association canadienne des éducateurs de langue française, the national association of French-language educators, with Cardinal Léger as its honorary chair; the series is now on permanent display at the Université de Saint-Boniface. Boutal later painted the same subject in oils (Fig. 174), and that canvas hangs in the Oblate sisters’ residence on the Rue Aulneau. In 1956, she could not turn down the invitation from Sister Rosette Lamonde to spend eight days decorating the seminary’s chancel at Fort Alexander, Manitoba. Suzanne Tremblay has noted that she was always ready to help other theatre companies, such as John Hirsch’s Theatre 77 or the groups attached to the Alliance Française, Union Nationale Française or Winnipeg’s Sacré-Coeur Parish. Léo Rémillard added that “numerous other groups in the city and the surrounding countryside often called upon her unflagging dedication, for rehearsing plays, designing sets and costumes, etc.”4 Like many artists, among them Robert Bruce, Joseph Plaskett, and John Phillips, Boutal also worked on contract for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (Fig. 175). She was no stranger to drawing costumes and sets, but for ballet, as compared to theatre, the illustrator cannot simply read a script and be able to picture the characters playing their parts. She therefore attended rehearsals at the Playhouse Theatre and arranged to sketch the dancers in motion.5 She designed the costumes for Visages in 1949–1950, The Rose and the Ring in 1950, and Rondel in 1951.

Drawing Classes on Saturday Mornings

174. Pauline Boutal before the panel Le rêve de monseigneur Langevin, which she painted for the Oblate Sisters, 1953.

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It is not surprising that Boutal would have wanted to develop artistic talent within the community, and she therefore agreed to offer drawing classes to the children of St. Boniface. She was entrusted with the assignment by Brunelle Léveillé, the chair of the St. Boniface school commission, in 1958 (Fig. 176).6 As many as seventy-five children attended courses on Saturday mornings from September to May in the basement of the École Marion in St. Boniface.7 Boutal confided that “I like working with young people, everything they do is so new, so fresh and so spontaneous.”8

Boutal was both pleased with her young artists and curious about them, as she explained: On Saturday mornings at the school I notice many small things in the children’s drawings and scribblings and I take note. It’s strange what one can discover.9 In 1960, when the Winnipeg Art Gallery announced an exhibition of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings,10 Boutal took her pupils to see them. She also took an interest in their progress11 and encouraged them to save their drawings so that she could assess their work.12 She put time into preparing her classes, showing them her own paintings and giving demonstrations. Her pupils had no reservations about their instructor’s credibility. Suzanne Garnier, the daughter of sculptor Hubert Garnier,13 attended the classes for all six years they were given and reported that their teacher had the “look” of a real artist—she wore a beret and a scarf knotted around her neck. She added that “Madame Boutal” addressed them “like artists and told them that they would become artists.”14 Boutal explained about the source of light and gradation with shadows. She showed them how to mix colours and compose with cool and warm tints. As well, she taught them not to use black and not to place objects in the centre of a composition. She let them decide whether to draw from their imagination or from a still life she had arranged. And she would let them look at her work. At the end of the course, every April, she mounted an exhibition of her pupils’ compositions. She was impressed by a diversity of subjects that was just as varied as the personalities of the young artists:

175. Costume drawing for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, c. 1949–1950.

On Saturday, I’ll be hanging the children’s paintings. There are some that are very funny. The Shooting of Dan McGrew is one. Eskimos and whales top the bill. For contrast, the palm trees and dancers bring us back to tropical shores. But I like the drawings of boats, trains, planes and cannons. The saloon characters are fun.15 Boutal was proud of her pupils’ drawings and glad to see the public come out to encourage her budding artists. Her friend Donatien Frémont wrote her a letter in which he expressed his admiration for her role as a drawing instructor, but he worried that it might be too onerous for his friend, who was then sixty-four years old: You … are doing a great service to the youth of Saint-Boniface and to yourself… Lacordaire said, more or less, “There is only one way to avoid aging—that is to live among young people.” You are having

176. Pauline Boutal with pupils in her drawing class, c. 1958–1964.

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177. Les fourberies de Scapin, set drawing, 1955.

that happy experience. All the same, teaching three-hour classes is huge, especially the way you approach it.16 According to Suzanne Tremblay, Gabrielle Roy, who had put all else aside in order to write, wanted her friend Pauline to do the same and devote herself to her painting, instead of so generously giving away her time to the community. Tremblay maintained that Boutal always remained loyal to St. Boniface;17 nonetheless, in a letter, Boutal expressed her regrets at having sacrificed too much: That’s my little sore spot, Suzanne. I don’t do enough work of my own. And you are right to tell me to follow Gabrielle Roy’s advice: put it all aside. I must learn to respond with a curt NO to anything else.18 Finally, in 1964, at the age of seventy, Boutal found the painting classes to be too tiring.19 She gave them up after having recommended a successor, a young man from St. Boniface named Roland Mahé, who had recently graduated in visual arts.

The Grande Dame of Le Cercle Molière 178. Pauline Boutal and the cast of La donation, 1948. Left to right: Armand LaFlèche, Pauline Boutal, Pauline Simon, Louis Souchon, Léo Rémillard, and Robert Trudel.

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Since 1941, following Arthur’s death, Pauline Boutal (Fig. 178) had been responsible for the artistic direction of Le Cercle Molière, and she also remained heavily involved in creating props, applying make-up and designing sets and costumes.20 She oversaw every small detail in the

179. L’avare, set drawing, 1950.

company’s productions, which cost her enormous amounts of time. The hours she spent preparing each play were nevertheless rewarded, because her personal life was made richer by the company’s spirit of comradeship: At that time, we were extremely poor and everyone pitched in to help get the plays ready, as you know.… Humour is the key, and despite all the headaches we gave ourselves we spent some happy hours at the CM. I very much enjoyed working with the technical crew on the set. Painting and props in the company of Roland [Tremblay], [Armand] Guénette, P’tit Paul Lévesque, Gilles [Guyot] and Ti-Phonse [LaRivière] brought me much joy, following rehearsals that were sometimes difficult and unproductive.21 Boutal (Fig. 180), who liked to work in a team and even lent a hand to the technical crew, would retain special memories of Gilles Guyot and his assistant Alphonse (Ti-Phonse) LaRivière, who worked at night to build the sets. They “sawed wood or hammered together the flats” in the workshop next to the rehearsal hall in the basement of the St. Boniface Cathedral.22 Despite the team’s good intentions and dedication, Pauline sometimes worried that all would not be ready come opening night. As a journalist noted in the Winnipeg Free Press of 4 April 1959: Mrs. Boutal had apprehensions concerning the opening scene, a forest, represented by three trees, one of which looked like “an asparagus.” But Robert Trudel’s yellow and green costume and

180. Pauline Boutal and Le Cercle Molière’s team of technicians, before the set of Un chapeau de paille d’Italie, 1952.

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181. Alcide, La donation, 1948.

182 Philidor, La donation, 1948.

183. Valère, L’Avare, 1950.

184. Philomène, Le village des miracles, 1953.

185. Le blouson noir [The Hoodlum], Édouard et Agrippine, 1963.

186. Aldonza, Dulcinée, 1962.

Monique Guyot’s swinging red skirt acted like magic. The sumptuous grey and blue curtains of the stage blended in with the set, and became trees.23 The actors, however, had no doubt about Boutal’s taste and talent for costumes and sets (Fig. 177, 179). As Monique and Léonie Guyot remarked, Boutal “had an eye for it.”24 She would never design a costume that would clash with the character or the set.25 Marthe Benoist, who acted at Le Cercle Molière with the Boutals in 1925, explained that Pauline had the required “skills” and “taste,” as well as an “extraordinary visual sense” thanks to her talent as a painter.26

Costume Drawings In designing costumes for Le Cercle Molière, as in portraiture, Boutal lent great importance to the similarity between a character and the person playing the part—and this was the key to her personal style. In her costume sketches, it is easy to recognize actors Robert Trudel in La donation (Fig. 181) and Léo Rémillard in L’avare (Fig. 172), and the drawings for Dulcinée display the features of Monique Guyot in the character of Aldonza (Fig. 186). The costume sketches she produced (Fig. 182, 183, 184, 185) constitute real caricatures of the actors,27 who are old friends. According to Régine Marsh, who worked as the company’s assistant director in 1963, Boutal would choose the plays to suit her actors. Marsh explained that the director would not have chosen Dulcinée had she not been able to rely on the participation of Monique Guyot, just as Robert Trudel was a natural choice for the plays of Molière. She added that it was “clear which actor would be playing which part when it came time to rehearse.”28 Robert Trudel commented that it was owing to this “gift” for choosing good roles for the actors that Boutal “inspired loyalty, discipline and pride in acting in French.”29 Solid bonds of friendship were thus established between the actors and their director, bonds that lasted all their lives. As a testament to this friendship, Boutal did not stop at costume sketches, but included her old friends “in character” in her paintings. For example, for Village des miracles, she produced a portrait in oils of Gilles Guyot in his role of Broozie the Pedlar (Fig. 188). She painted a second piece inspired by the same play, this time recreating the interaction between three characters in a particular scene. The part of the old, bent beggarwoman hiding behind a red shawl was played by Suzanne Tremblay, and Boutal gave her that painting, along with the portrait of Boozie, as a souvenir of the production.30

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187. Le casse-croûte [The snack bar], c. 1961.

Le Cercle Molière’s Characters and the Types

188. Broozie le colporteur [Broozie the pedlar], 1960.

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It is easy to believe that Pauline Boutal was entertaining herself with her caricatures of actors, given subjects like the humorous scene depicted in Le casse-croûte (Fig. 187); she classed this piece as belonging to the “yéyé genre,” after the French pop music parodies of the 1960s. The painting drew its inspiration from her weekly pilgrimage to the cafeteria in Eaton’s basement. Whether Boutal created it from a sketch she made on site, or whether she simply invented the entire scene and drew on her repertory of characters to populate it, cannot be known for sure. However, what can be concluded from paintings in this vein is that she maintained a lively interest in the human factor throughout her career. Moreover, she admitted regretting that she had not painted more narrative scenes: “I have always liked scenes with children, or else with the types, the stageworthy characters I sometimes encounter.”31 Over the years, Boutal would return repeatedly to the depiction of “types,” especially parish gossips. Her Épanchement dominical [Sunday venting] (Fig. 191), painted in 1967, features two women she had watched from her window. She again addressed the topic in 1971, in Confidences (Fig. 189) and again in Étude, Confidences (Fig. 190). In the latter, she

189. Confidences, 1971.

190. Étude [Study], Confidences, 1971.

used charcoal to capture the act of gossiping, using a close-up to highlight the verbal exchange between the two women: Two nice ladies meeting almost every Sunday after mass in front of the Noella to trade confidences. Missals in hand and, for one of them, a handkerchief, indicating that she must also have a tear in her eye and has no doubt won the sympathy of the other, who listens with a solemn expression. Two simple silhouettes that must be quite expressive, because they have entertained anyone who has seen them in this small painting.32 Boutal knew this kind of woman inside out; in fact, she received the award for Best Actress at the Dominion Drama festival for playing an old village gossip in Les soeurs Guédonec. In an interview following the festival, she admitted to Ann Henry of the Winnipeg Tribune that “I knew this type so well… snuffing and poking.”33 Pauline Boutal, actor and artist, had what it takes to capture the humorous side of the characters in her neighbourhood. In fact, Ann Davis, curator of Canadian art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, asked Boutal to lend them Confidences for the exhibition Images of Woman, which was mounted for International Women’s Year in 1975.

191. Épanchement dominical [Sunday venting], 1965.

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192. Pauline Boutal at the Dominion Drama Festival, photographed for Chatelaine magazine,1954.

National Fame According to Monique and Léonie Guyot, Boutal (Fig. 192) was “known right across the country” and at the Dominion Drama Festival “people would say: Pauline Boutal’s group, that’s the one to see.”34 They recalled the jury recognizing that “she has a firm control of her troupes.”35 Under her direction, a number of plays won awards in several categories, and two were named Best Play in French—L’avare, in 1950, and Les fourberies de Scapin, in 1956. In the theatre world, there have been few female artistic directors.36 According to Roland Mahé, who succeeded her as Le Cercle Molière’s artistic director, “she had to be strong!” He added: 154

Even in the field of directing, there are not many women!... She was respected because she won awards,… she was French and expressed herself very well. Her general culture was very extensive.37 Régine Marsh found it “surprising” that Pauline Boutal had that “inner strength” because she was “slender and petite.”38 “She also had a lot of pride,” noted actor Francis Fontaine, and “that pride … shone through in her actions, in what she did, what she accomplished.”39 Monique Guyot clarified that she was nonetheless very “humble,” and that she had “never heard actors criticizing Madame Boutal.” Léonie Guyot added that “she never pushed herself forward,”40 that is, she did not work for her personal glory, but for that of the group. Gabrielle Roy, who played several roles in the company’s plays, conveyed her respect and admiration in a letter dated 21 June 1951: Remember that over the years, I had raised you up in my heart to serve as a model in all things. If in my younger days there was anyone I wanted to be like, that person was you. I chose well, all the same, even if you don’t wish to concede the point.41 Pauline Boutal was Le Cercle Molière’s artistic director until 1968, which set up an ongoing conflict with her resolve to devote herself completely to painting: “Decidedly, directing a play and painting seriously at the same time don’t go together.”42

The Final Years at Le Cercle Molière One day a young man, shy, came to my house, to tell me about his desire to take part in Le Cercle. He was extremely interested in all the arts, but particularly in theatre, and he gave me the impression that he could well try directing. … I invited him to sit in on the rehearsals going on at that time and shortly afterwards he told me that he would like to present some excerpts from a play by Camus, Le Malentendu. It was strong stuff for a beginner. But it was a success. —Pauline Boutal, 25 April 1975 43 Roland Mahé studied drama at the National Theatre School in Montreal and the École supérieure d’art dramatique in Strasbourg, France, and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba.44 He played an important role in Boutal’s life. She admired Mahé for his work “with young people” and the “old hands,” and for his ability to “push our interest in the direction of the new and the modern.”45 And he freely admits it was thanks to her that he started to work in theatre: “She showed 155

me that you must have a broad vision that takes in the other arts, set design, painting. She had an eye for it all.”46 It was thus that, between the wisdom of the one and the youth of the other, a friendship was formed out of a shared passion for theatre. Boutal was “delighted to spend a few hours with him.”47 Mahé, also of Breton origin, remembered their animated discussions about theatre.48 Boutal, who would smoke Gitanes while sipping her “little gin,”49 did not always share his opinions.50 However, she was proud of his success and acknowledged that his staging was always “marked with a professional touch in the proper sense of the term.”51 Boutal encouraged him and supported him in his work as the new artistic director. In a letter to her friend Gratia Fortin dated 31 August 1977 she explained: Today, the CM is in another sphere and its director Rol. Mahé possesses remarkable talent and knowledge. I lunched with him last week; I was so pleased that he invited me! You’re right to think we talked theatre… I have great confidence in Roland, and any time he needs a hand, for sets or costumes, it is with great joy that I design them, especially when it involves History, for example, Molière, etc.52 Boutal saw in her successor the same attachment to the francophone community that guided her in her own involvement. She devoted herself to Le Cercle Molière from 1928 to 1968, and Roland Mahé’s career is, at the time of writing, in its fortieth year: Christiane and I are very happy to see that the CM is not idle, that it’s going in the right direction, thanks to Roland, his collaborators, and also his friends and family. They help each other, as we did.53 One of the portraits Boutal was especially pleased to complete was that of Roland Mahé (Fig. 193). She described the painting in a February 1974 letter to Suzanne Tremblay: “It is not a commission, but a whim of my own.”54 In the years following, Boutal gradually cut back her involvement in Le Cercle Molière. Painting “is now becoming my principal occupation,” she wrote, and she hoped that it would bring her “the same joys as the theatre did, although it’s a more secretive, private art.”55 I admit that I should not have sacrificed [the profession of painting] to such an extent, but even in that, Suzanne, I found a unique joy, because the time dedicated to theatre, especially before my husband’s departure, has made my life so much richer. And the memories it has given me are marvellous, invaluable.56

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193. Roland Mahé, 1974.

With Roland Mahé directing Le Cercle Molière, at the age of seventy-four, the artist could throw off the burden of responsibility and dedicate herself to painting, which she had severely neglected without nonetheless abandoning it: I always feel a little deflated when people refer to my hobby… They seem to think that I paint the way one would take up fishing on reaching retirement. I indulge the pretension that I am practising what has been my profession for over 40 years, not amusing myself with little projects for fun.57 157

Chapter 15

Painting — What She Loved Best

As for my easel. Well, my goodness, it will stay next to my balcony door in the living room. It occupies its place with dignity and besides, I’m not ashamed of it, isn’t it the symbol of my profession? —Pauline Boutal, 29 January 19651

194. Chapelle du couvent des Sœurs Grises, c. 1965.

During the 1960s, Pauline Boutal (Fig. 195) would earn distinction for the quality of her painting and would complete some of her most admired pieces, as much for the treatment of colour as for the rhythmical strokes of the palette knife or a highly individual sense of composition. In Chapelle du couvent des Soeurs Grises (Fig. 194), a painting Boutal undertook for her own pleasure, the foreground composition is very strong, the volumes are sculpted by the colours, and harmony is created through the repetition of small strokes freely juxtaposed on the canvas. When the painting was shown by the Manitoba Society of Artists in 1965, it caught the attention of Jean-Pierre Ostiguy, Services Director at the National Gallery of Canada. In an article published in the Winnipeg Tribune of 16 January 1965, accompanied by a photograph of the painting, he is quoted as praising her composition and treatment of colour.2 Jean-Paul Ostiguy was not the only one to note that Boutal stood out among Winnipeg’s painters. Two years earlier, in 1963, the famous critic Clement Greenberg wrote a piece for Canadian Art magazine in which he reported on his visit to Winnipeg and to the MSA exhibition. He was much taken by the painters of representative art like Boutal: Among other modest representational painters whose things I liked at the Art Gallery Association in Winnipeg were Pauline Boutal, Victor Friesen and Denise Chivers. (And I would have liked their pictures anywhere: in New York, Paris, or London. I bother to say this lest some reader think I’m being patronizing towards Winnipeg.)3

The Bonifacian Landscapes Boutal’s production in the 1960s and 1970s was dominated by landscapes, in particular scenes of St. Boniface. Some buyers asked her to depict a

195. Pauline Boutal, n.d.

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196. Maison Taillefer Lévesque, 1972.

197. L’ancienne librairie Keroack [The former Keroack Bookstore], 1960.

subject they might already have seen in a painting at her home or elsewhere; for example, a view of the cathedral or the Collège de SaintBoniface. It got to the point that she baptized the whole series her “Bonifacian landscapes,” paintings that recalled fond memories of her adopted city: I don’t believe there is a single corner of Saint-Boniface that I don’t know, full of memories, reminding me of some aspect of my life.4 Boutal had a habit of going around the town on foot to do her errands. These rambles gave her an opportunity to revisit neighbourhoods that summoned memories of her past. An example is the lane behind the Rue Ritchot where the Le Goff family first set up housekeeping in 1909, recorded in L’épicerie du coin (see Fig. 10, Chapter 3). She named some paintings after the friends who had lived in the houses depicted, like Maison Taillefer Lévesque (Fig. 196), located in the Rue Saint-Joseph, which was the home of P’tit Paul Lévesque, the technician at Le Cercle Molière during Arthur Boutal’s time. Or L’ancienne librairie Keroack (Fig. 197), on the Rue Dumoulin, which had been the bookstore owned by Louis-Philippe and Margot Gagnon, friends of Arthur and Pauline Boutal from the early days of Le Cercle Molière. Two houses that summoned up very intense memories for her were the former homes of her friends

198. L’ancienne gare de train du CNR [The former CNR station], c. 1959.

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199. Musée de Saint-Boniface (autumn), c. 1965

200. Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface, après l’incendie [after the fire] (rear view), 1970.

Gratia Fortin and Suzanne Tremblay on the Boulevard Provencher: Your house, next to Suzanne’s, watches me going by on Provencher with an empty eye, with no expression showing through its curtains, and your much regretted absence makes me sad.5 The old houses also reminded her of her life with Arthur. One day in 1963, when she stopped in front of her Péninsule, the sight of the lovely property on Horace Street filled her with a profound dejection and regret at having left her charming retreat behind: I spent some time deliberately forgetting Horace Street, my house, which we, my husband and I, had so carefully surrounded with grass and flowers, painted and repainted, repaired, etc., etc., and where we had been so happy! It’s a memory of the past that still haunts me, but without bitterness. Time has taken away everything that would sully the image, and since my intention on leaving the property had been never to see it again—except from far, far away —the marks left on it by others don’t bother me at all and can take nothing away from the memory I cherish.6 Houses in St. Boniface are not the only structures to have captured the artist’s attention. She also developed an abiding interest in the history of its old buildings and ecclesiastical properties, such as the Maison des Soeurs Grises (Fig. 203).

The Ecclesiastical Buildings Boutal received numerous commissions to paint the St. Boniface Cathedral, a structure that intrigued her as both an artistic and an historical subject. The Le Goff family had belonged to the parish from the time they moved to St. Boniface in 1909. For eighty-three years, the massive walls, so prominent in Franco-Manitoban history and culture, had been a part of her life, for weddings, baptisms, and funerals. The imposing architecture of the 1908 structure was stamped on her memory and became symbolic of the francophone people’s expression. As such, the historic building’s loss to fire in 1968 (Fig. 200, 201) was for Boutal a disturbing sign that the French language was disappearing: When I went by [the cathedral’s ruins] on my return, I felt sick. For some time, everything going on here has been dreadful. I have to add, it also seems to me that more and more English is being spoken on the street.7

201. Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface, après l’incendie [after the fire] (front), 1972.

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Like the cathedral, the Collège de Saint-Boniface was a popular subject with buyers. It represents quite a challenge for an artist, since the ornamentation typical of classical architecture is concentrated on the front wall, while the other sides of the building exhibit very little detailed work. Despite that, Boutal was determined that her buyers should each have their “very own college.”8 When the various scenes of the college and the cathedral are seen side by side, what is impressive is the variety in the rendition of the sky, sometimes stormy in summer, rainy in spring and heavily overcast in winter. She worked with “a combination of what I had seen in the past and what I see today.”9 Another historical building that caught her attention was the Grey Nuns’ convent. In terms of angles, she favoured the back view, and that chosen for Couvent des Soeurs Grises (Fig. 202) reminded her of a bygone St. Boniface: “Such a pretty place, seen from the back, it has a slightly rustic or country look, with its green shutters, crooked windows and white door.”10 An interesting note is that, with a few rare exceptions, Pauline Boutal did not include human figures in her landscapes. The artist who had directed Le Cercle Molière for so many years had no desire to create narratives or stage scenes in these paintings. As in her portraits, the building itself is the featured personality. What concerned her as a painter was the lighting, the effect of light on the building’s front wall, its roof or the snow. In her paintings of historical buildings, the structure already has its own heritage story to tell and is thus self-sufficient. In different views of the same subject, the lighting varies with the season. Since such projects were often commissioned, the artist had to pay strict attention to precision and detail. The spatial construction is often closed; the subject, placed at the centre of a long perspective, is framed by such decorative motifs as trees, a fence or a sidewalk. The St. Boniface Boutal painted was able to preserve its historical and even rural feel over the years thanks to the conservation of such large ecclesiastical properties as the archbishop’s residence. However, this did not prevent the artist from being saddened by the gradual disappearance of the old St. Boniface; not only did she miss it, she mourned the loss of an old friend. She made sure that she could hold onto her memories by capturing its image on canvas.

The Gradual Disappearance of Old St. Boniface

202. Couvent des Sœurs Grises, c. 1965.

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The old residence of the little sisters of the Archdiocese is gone. You know, those two houses joined end to end and connected to the presbytery?

A bulldozer, one with huge claws, came and tore them right off their base. In their place, there is only what looks something like rocky ground, stones and bits of wood, levelled off and exposing the garages used by those gentlemen from the presbytery and the palace. —Pauline Boutal, 7 May 196311 Boutal had an interest in the history of St. Boniface, and the conservation of historical buildings like the Little Sisters’ residence (Fig. 205) was a major concern. She was saddened to “see this place mutilated”12 and had trouble understanding people who gave so little importance to the preservation of their heritage. She was strongly opposed to the indiscriminate destruction of the old buildings: This mania for tearing everything down right, left and centre is deplorable and almost sacrilegious. Could they not show more discernment and respect?13 She voiced her frustration when, in 1969, the nuns decided to eliminate a green space behind the St. Boniface museum, the former Grey Nuns’ convent (Fig. 199, 202, 204): I am outraged by the attitude of some of these nuns.… After all, it’s also the history of the Grey Nuns, which is closely linked to that of Saint-Bobo and its residents. Could you please tell me why they had a modern garage built right behind the museum?14 Over the years, Boutal witnessed the disappearance of many buildings, among them the old Canadian National train station at the corner of Saint-Joseph and Aubert (Fig. 198) and the Hôtel Mondor at the corner of Notre-Dame and Taché (Fig. 206). She painted a canvas of the former fire hall on Rue Dumoulin, which was, according to her, threatened with imminent destruction: “It’s another feature of Saint-Bobo that will no doubt disappear, like so many others.”15 The end of the 1960s brought a big change in the lives of Pauline Boutal and Christiane Le Goff. Their mother died on 16 June 1968. Christiane, who had been taking care of her, was devastated, and Pauline sustained a double blow—the sixteenth of June reminded her of the death of her husband Arthur on the same day in 1941: It’s a date that remains painful despite the passage of all these years. It is doubly so, because another disappearance has come to be added to the first on 16 June, and Christiane, you know how attached she was to her mother, grew as sad as I was. They went on the same day, my husband and my mother, twenty-seven years apart.16

203. Maison des Sœurs Grises, 1959.

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204. Musée de Saint-Boniface (under restoration), c. 1965.

205. Vieilles maisons, cour de l’archevêché [Old houses in the yard of the archbishop’s residence], 1966.

206. L’hôtel Mondor, 1980.

Christiane had been living with her mother in an apartment building, Le Tour Eiffel, and now she and Pauline moved into the Manoir Grenoble at 415 Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Their apartment, Number 501, had a balcony looking east. As at La Péninsule, Pauline Boutal was surrounded by her sisters. Marie and Suzanne, now widowed, rented apartments in the same building.17 The four of them (Fig. 207) made trips to the country18 in Christiane’s car, which they called “Fringante [Dashing].” They regularly attended performances at Le Cercle Molière and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. Once a month, one or another of them would serve an “apéro” in her apartment before they went to dine at the local restaurant, La Lanterne rouge.19 Christiane, who shared many interests with her eldest sister, would be a loyal companion and constant support for the following thirty years. Together, they went on numerous trips to France and Quebec. 207. Pauline, Marie Kennedy, Suzanne Hubicki, Louise Warwick, and Christiane Le Goff, c. 1980.

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Travels in France and Quebec As early as the 1950s, Pauline Boutal displayed a predilection for travel and the paintings that would come of it. The European landscapes she painted can be attributed to her trips to France in 1971, 1974, and 1977 (Fig. 210). The character of her native land marks these landscapes and, as in her set designs for the theatre, there is an interest in the play of sunlight and shadow between two buildings or roof gables and around architectural features. Unlike the landscapes of St. Boniface, the European paintings were not commissioned. It was not a matter of presenting the façades of buildings to please a client or trying to find yet another point of vantage on the same subject. The European pieces were done for the artist’s personal pleasure, and as in some canvases from St. Boniface, such as the Chapelle du couvent des Soeurs Grises (Fig. 194), the subject is often depicted in close-up. Not having to please a client, she was not concerned with being exact or making a faithful representation, which gave her great freedom: “There is an interpretation that is mine and I want it to be mine.” In Bergerac (Fig. 209), it was the architectonic aspect of the painting’s composition that intrigued her. She composed images with volumes and colours, as in the painting Vieilles maisons sur un pont (see Fig. 1, Chapter 1). She focused on the subject’s structure, and her drawing was solid, her line true and her shapes concrete: I am looking at my easel, on which sits the sketch of a French landscape that has me a little intimidated. Yes, a matter of lighting on houses. You understand, a photograph and even a sketch are only reference materials. I must still call upon my memories, the impression I received as soon as I saw this old corner of Bergerac, what struck me and gave me the desire to reproduce it… In any case, I’ll give it a try.20 In the European scenes, as in those of St. Boniface, Boutal does not attempt to introduce any characters and her paintings are not narrative. What animates her compositions, as in Église protestante à Bergerac, is the play of light on the façade or the roof, in the lane or between the buildings, according to the season and time of day. She could no longer rely on her memory to summon up all the glimmers and reflections, and so sometimes resorted to photography to define the larger lines of places that interested her (Fig. 208): The photo is only a point of reference that I use to set my composition. It is up to me to free up my imagination, my interpretation of something seen, and also to use my own devices as to how to paint it and choose my colours. That is technique.21 169

208. Château en France [Castle in France], 1971.

209. Bergerac, 1971.

210. Marie Ven, Pauline Ven, a neighbour, and Pauline Boutal, Lanhouarneau, France, c. 1971.

Every year, Boutal would travel to Montreal to visit Suzanne Tremblay. The two of them would explore the Quebec countryside with their friends Gratia and Thérèse Fortin or with members of Suzanne’s family. It is possible to track the high points of her travels through her landscapes. In her Quebec paintings, what appeared to capture the artist’s attention was the varied nature of the landscape (Fig. 217). She painted curving roads that would follow the shoreline of a lake, or, with sinuous lines running across hills, draw the viewer’s eye to the background, past farms, valleys, and groups of trees in the middle ground. Boutal felt a powerful attraction to Quebec’s landscape. Her very first impression of Canada, when she arrived at the end of October 1907, would come back to haunt her memory as she questioned her parents’ decision to immigrate to Manitoba: “Why did my parents have to come and live in this place when they arrived from France!”22 In her opinion, if the family had stayed in Quebec, her father would probably “have found work in his trade.”23 Nonetheless, she had become attached to the people in Manitoba and “their spirit, their cordial nature”24 pleased her. She further stated, “I do not regret a single minute of the hard times we lived through in Saint-Laurent and Saint-Boniface in the beginning,

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I regret not a single minute, it has all served me well.”25 Although she said that she had no regrets about living in St. Boniface, she often thought of cutting the ties to her adopted city and moving to Montreal: Oh, if only I could fly! Like my imagination. But I have no wings and must content myself with summoning up the memories of my last trip to Montreal.26

The Rooftops of St. Boniface Boutal would often look out on the landscape from the window of her apartment on the Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Fig. 211). One morning in 1974, she described the early light as “roseate and magical … with a divine blue on the snow-covered roofs.”27 The view of the roofs and especially the smoke would captivate her, and these “wonderland scenes” would serve as a theme more than once: Picture a pearlescent fog, not too thick, that allows you to see, to distinguish the shapes of houses, trees, factory chimneys in the distance, all in a tender grey colour mixed with dark or whitish patches of steam or smoke. It was magnificent, with the feel of a dream or hallucination. Then the sun showed on the horizon, a pink, nebulous ball that slowly and delicately illuminated this entire fairyland. Real theatre magic! I imagine the technician wanting to set up these effects and bring us gradually to the full blaze of light.28 Boutal adopted the theme of the town’s roofs for their picturesque character and the various lighting effects produced by the weather, especially when the temperature became extreme—an “entrancing spectacle.”29 And while this view provided her with an interesting subject, the scene also triggered nostalgia and sadness. The rooftops she could see from her window only underlined the great distance that separated her from her good friend Suzanne in Montreal: Oh, if you only knew how often I look your way, over there to the East. I try to get beyond the line of the horizon to everything hidden there. My thoughts fly off, come back and turn again to you.30

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Chapter 16

A Highly Respected Painter

For people in Saint-Boniface of a certain age, she is the friend they are seeing again, the one who was able to capture in time many faces from their town that already are no more. For us all, she is the pioneer. —Bernard Mulaire, 30 January 19741

211. Matin d’hiver [Winter morning], c. 1970.

The 1970s would be a memorable decade for Pauline Boutal (Fig. 213). She celebrated her eightieth birthday in 1974. Four of her pieces dating from before 1950 appeared in 150 Years of Art in Manitoba, an historical exhibition mounted by the Winnipeg Art Gallery that was on display at the Manitoba legislature from May through August 1970. Her painting Confidences was shown as part of Images of Woman, an exhibition held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery from November 1975 to January 1976 to mark International Women’s Year. And in 1977, two of her pieces were chosen by a jury that included the American art critic Clement Greenberg2 for the Manisphere Jury Art Show that was held in Winnipeg’s Centennial Hall3 from July to September.4 St. Boniface did not have its own permanent exhibition gallery until the mid-1970s, and any exhibition of her work within the community was most often associated with a one-time event. At the request of librarian Gratia Fortin, she lent some pieces to be shown at the new St. Boniface library on the Rue de la Cathédrale.5 And she was pleased to “lend a few paintings for the opening” of the new Musée de Saint-Boniface, located in the former Grey Nuns convent, at the invitation of Director Marius Benoist.6

Two Solo Shows In January 1974, Boutal had her first solo exhibition. The show, titled simply Pauline Boutal, marked the inauguration of the new Centre culturel franco-manitobain. This well-deserved tribute was the initiative of Marie Fournier, the centre’s director and chair of a committee representing all

212. Pauline Boutal in cap and gown upon receiving her honorary doctorate, 1978.

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of St. Boniface’s artists. A catalogue was produced, in which her longtime friend Marthe Benoist wrote: Madame Pauline Boutal’s friends and admirers are overjoyed to see, finally brought together in a space that is worthy of her, works by the artist of whom they are so proud.7 The Winnipeg Free Press critic, John W. Graham, commented in an article titled “French Milestone” that a solo show of Pauline Boutal’s work was very appropriate to serve as the keystone event in the new Franco-Manitoban centre’s inaugural celebrations. He added that she “captures the texture, light and character of the people and places which make up her life, doing so with personal integrity and pride in technique.”8 Graham underlined the solid composition, quality of light, and dramatic space in her body of work and the particular sensitivity of her portraits. Bernard Mulaire, a young St. Boniface artist, also gave her high praise in an article published in the Saint-Boniface Courier: What we admire in her work is the consistency and competence of the workmanship, but also its freshness and freedom. Raised in an era when drawing was still the fashion, she took the trade to heart but was not its slave. Her concern for naturalism would not let her be content merely to make faithful renditions. She always attempts to inject a quality all her own, and that is her attentive, affectionate gaze at the landscapes and the beings around them.9 Boutal had taken it upon herself to obtain permissions from the collectors and, in her opinion, everyone in charge of the exhibition “was remarkably kind and genuine”: In the end, the show includes I believe 48 paintings, and I find the way they are presented to be enchanting. The hall is quite large and each piece, whether in oils or pastels, is very well placed. The opening was a success. Really, for St-Bon., it was impressive.10 The exhibition was warmly received by the people of St. Boniface, who attended in large numbers. In honour of the occasion, the French Consul sent Boutal a letter: We [the Consul and his wife] would like to express to you our sincere admiration for your talent. It pleases us all the more because, by ancestry and birth, you had your origins in our beautiful land of France before adopting this marvellous country, Canada. If one day the Canadian government proves to be less 176

213. Sixtieth anniversary of Le Cercle Molière: Pauline Boutal, Roland Mahé, and Maureen Forrester, Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, 1970.

restrictive and consents to have its nationals see their talent and merit honoured by foreign countries, in particular those from which they came, it would please me to repeat the wishes, which were accompanied by the highest praise, conveyed to you before and after the war by my predecessors. The French government would thus be able to express its appreciation for your activities in so many fields.11 Also in a letter, Ferdinand Eckardt, the director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, excused himself for not having been able to attend the opening, and went on: “I will make a point to see the exhibition of work of Pauline Boutal, whom I respect as an excellent artist.”12 Boutal remarked that this letter gave her much pleasure.13 Boutal would also hear “kind, encouraging”14 words from a wellknown Winnipeg artist she happened to meet at the framer’s—Peter Kuch, who was also the Winnipeg Free Press political cartoonist. When he saw the portrait that Boutal was having framed, he pronounced himself very sorry that she had sacrificed her painting in favour of Le Cercle Molière: In his opinion I am a “fine portrait painter, probably one of the best in Canada…” Please pardon this boastful streak, which shocks me a little inside—but you will understand that my confidence in my own effort, my work, went up a notch as a result. I sometimes 177

214. Pauline Boutal is made a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Roland Michener, 1973.

let myself become discouraged. As we were leaving I spoke to him again and he repeated his remark, adding: “I do hope you will think… and give more time to painting.”15 In 1975, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain dedicated a second solo show to Boutal’s work. The mini-retrospective, which was organized by the exhibitions manager, Bernard Mulaire, presented an overview of her career through documentary panels, accompanied by sketches, posters, and paintings lent by the artist and St. Boniface collectors. Over the years, the community gave Boutal the best possible form of encouragement—she regularly received commissions for oil paintings and pastels. The collectors of her work include, among others, the Monnin, Couture, Forest, and Guyot families. She must have been touched by the fact that the younger generation at Le Cercle Molière, the Mahés, Léveillés, and others like Claude Dorge and Francis Fontaine, became her regular clients. But it was the Tremblay family that bought the largest number of pieces, in particular Suzanne Tremblay, who acquired most of the artist’s favourite paintings.

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215. Inauguration of the Salle Pauline-Boutal, 1975. Left to right: Marie Fournier, Laurent Desjardins, Joseph Guay, Pauline Boutal, Marie Jubinville, and Maxime Desaulniers.

Indefatigable Apostle of the Theatre Boutal had dedicated herself to promoting the excellence of Frenchlanguage theatre in the Franco-Manitoban community, and in the 1970s she would receive many honours for her contribution to the art form in Canada. In 1971, she was given France’s order of merit, the Ordre du Mérite de la culture française, for her contribution to French culture in this country. On 19 June 1973, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada (Fig. 214) and on 30 May 1978, the University of Manitoba awarded her an honorary doctorate, which was presented at the Collège de Saint-Boniface (Fig. 212). On 25 April 1975, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain inaugurated its new theatre, the Salle Pauline-Boutal, named in recognition of the Grande Dame of Le Cercle Molière (Fig. 215). When the plaque outside the theatre was unveiled, and in honour of Le Cercle Molière’s fiftieth anniversary that year, a small group of former company members performed an excerpt from Molière’s Le Médecin malgré lui [The doctor in spite of himself]. In his introductory speech, Léo Rémillard spoke about having invited his good friend, the “indefatigable apostle of French theatre in Manitoba,” to sit in on their initial reading and make suggestions for directing the excerpt (Fig. 216). He continued: 179

She won’t be put out, I hope, if I tell you about the following small incident. After our first reading, my friends all left and the two of us found ourselves alone. All of a sudden, she just said to me, “Make no mistake, you made my life hell during our rehearsals in the old days, but it was so good to have us all working together.” I thought I saw two big tears running down her cheeks. All at once I understood that, during that reading, she and the rest of us had relived all the joys we experienced back then. How I would have liked to be a magician who could change her tears into pearls that we would keep forever as one of our most beautiful souvenirs. But it doesn’t matter, because we have her right here, among us, and wasn’t she the most glorious pearl of French culture in Manitoba? Let’s hope that Heaven will keep her safe for us for a long time to come. Madame Boutal, in all our names, I would like once again to give you our most sincere thanks. We admire you! We congratulate you! And above all, we love you!16 In 1981, when Boutal was awarded the medal of the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique at the age of eighty-seven, it was her successor Roland Mahé who travelled to Quebec to accept the scroll and medal from Premier René Lévesque, on 4 July.

A Third Exhibition I have received word from Le Cercle Molière and also from the Centre culturel franco-manitobain that they are organizing an exhibition of my paintings in St-Bon. (at the Centre itself). The Centre C. has a collection of several of my paintings and I hope there won’t be any trouble finding certain of my oils that could be included. I am touched that they would have thought of mounting a show of my works, Suzanne. —Pauline Boutal, 3 February 198217 In 1982, a third solo exhibition of Boutal’s work was organized at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain by the gallery’s co-director, Lise Brémault, with the help of Roger LaFrenière and Roland Mahé. Paysages et Bâtiments: 1947 à 1978 [Landscapes and buildings: 1947 to 1978] was shown from 27 January to 21 February. That same year, works by Pauline Boutal appeared in Flowers: From the WAG Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and in 1982, they were included in Art in Winnipeg 1955 to 1959, organized by art historian Ann Cameron at the University of Manitoba’s Gallery One One One.

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The Desire to Paint Doesn’t Leave Her Throughout the 1980s, she continued to keep her hand limber or, as she put it, “daub a few faces.”18 For Boutal, the practice of rapidly sketching people in action further developed her style and preserved her artist’s eye, memory and imagination. As she wrote in November 1976, I do some daubing every afternoon, Suzanne, but it isn’t moving along very fast. Unfortunately that’s not all I have to do. It diverts me and keeps my mind alert… and my hand in. There are days when I can’t do very much.19 The habit of spending part of every day at the drawing board had taken root in early childhood. She continued to paint, but at a slower pace. In a letter dated 27 October 1980, she wrote: I also have to keep at the painting. I still have a desire to do it and I must take advantage. When Christiane isn’t so busy, I hope to be able to make even better use of my time, because I still feel an attraction to painting that must not be ignored (well, as little as possible). I must admit, however, that focussing my attention on it tires me more than it used to… But after all, that’s only natural.20

216. Pauline Boutal, 1975.

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Chapter 17

The Brushes at Rest

For a while now I have been giving my brushes a rest. But I absolutely must rouse them again and get back to work on my unfinished canvas. —Pauline Boutal, 27 October 1980 1

217. Scène de Québec [Quebec scene], 1970.

In 1980, Pauline Boutal (Fig. 218), now aged eighty-six, was downcast by the realization that she could no longer produce artwork as quickly as in the past. While she still loved painting, she recognized that she didn’t have the drive she’d had before. The desire to draw, however, had not left her: Since, for various reasons, I can no longer paint freely, owing to bits of business, recreation, and errands, I no longer feel the same interest. And then my age possibly has something to do with it. Yet I still love to paint.2

The Dream of Living in Montreal Another desire that did not diminish was that of moving to Montreal. The idea of leading her life in that artistic environment, with its wealth of museums and galleries, had always beckoned, especially after Suzanne Tremblay left for Montreal in the early 1960s. The correspondence between the two friends only sharpened her desire: Christiane wants very much to go and live there. Of course she’s already told you about that. She comes back to the idea more and more often. As for me, I agree with her entirely, except for one point that nothing can change, since it’s completely personal… St-Bobo has a hold on me …, an emotional one. I wasn’t born here, but I’ve lived here since 1909. My entire adult life and some of my teen years were spent here, with calamities and great happiness.… That’s all over now and I should think about doing something for my little sis.3

218. Pauline Boutal, c. 1980.

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219. Christiane Le Goff, Suzanne Tremblay, and Pauline Boutal, Montreal, c. 1985.

Christiane often cited two reasons for living in Montreal: “I have two friends, Suzanne and Thérèse, and I’m too far away from them.”4 Pauline Boutal could also justify the move: “I must tell you that there’s something missing from my life, Suzanne! Oh, yes!... Your presence. But perhaps we will one day be closer to each other.”5 In 1980, making their long-delayed dream a reality finally became possible. Christiane had retired and was thinking of moving to Montreal. Pauline supported the move: Finally, when she has made up her mind to leave St. Bobo, I’ll gather up my little bundle, pack my bags, and leave with her. It will be sad in a way, but happy in another. Of that I’m convinced. So let’s await her decision with serenity.… Oh yes, Coussie’s right, we must go and “live in Montreal…”6 Boutal slowly accustomed herself to the idea of moving, but the thought of leaving saddened her. She knew that she would always feel torn between Quebec and St. Boniface: “I should have a little airplane… and be able to come and go with my dreams, my thoughts. Oh, dear!”7 In 1981, Pauline, aged eighty-seven, and Christiane, aged sixty-six, left St. Boniface to live in Montreal close to Suzanne Tremblay (Fig. 219). They found a “comfortable” apartment in the Rue Plessis8 in a complex 184

220. Suzanne Tremblay, Christiane Le Goff, and Pauline Boutal, Montreal, 1986.

for the families of veterans. Their balcony looked out over the yard, and at their leisure they could admire “a garden with flowers.”9 Boutal was happy in Montreal, where her brother Marcel and his family already lived. He often invited Pauline and Christiane to visit his son’s twins: “JeanPierre’s little daughters are lovely, full of life.”10 On Sundays, the two sisters went to mass at the Église Sainte-Brigide, where Boutal said she liked the surroundings. “I also like to look at stained-glass windows again, reminding me of what I would see long ago when I was a child, in Brittany.”11 The highlight of the week came after Sunday mass (Fig. 220) when, with Suzanne Tremblay, the two sisters ventured out in Suzanne’s car for what they called their “nowhere”12—an improvised picnic in a park or in the country, with no particular destination in mind when they set out. They would regularly just go rambling, perhaps in the area around the Bois-de-l’Île Bizard on the Lac des Deux-Montagnes or in the Montérégie valley. Pauline wrote to her niece Louise, “We will perhaps be able to take a few drives outside the city before winter. The countryside is so beautiful!” The beauty of Quebec’s autumn had made a deep impression on her when she arrived in Canada in 1907: “Once again I feel the joy I felt on seeing the banks of the St. Lawrence for the first time in all their fall splendour.”13 In a letter to her niece Louise Warwick, dated 2 November 1982, she wrote that “the beautiful fall colours make a superb stage set, especially out in the country.”14 185

The two sisters went out every day to traipse around the streets of Montreal.15 “I love our little outings, on foot, in the afternoons.”16 They visited galleries, saw plays, and went up and down the alleys in the markets. Suzanne Tremblay’s place of work was close to their apartment and she regularly had lunch with them. Life in Montreal seemed exhilarating, but St. Boniface would call them back. Boutal soon reached the age of ninety and her memory was often faulty. She became increasingly dependent on her sister Christiane, who was by that time finding Montreal “too big.”17 Suzanne Tremblay, on a trip to Florida, received a letter from her close friend, who gradually came to admit how her feelings were tugging at her. “I am very happy to be in Quebec—while missing certain aspects of my life in St-Bobo! But about that I can do nothing. Fortunately my memories help me to overcome the distance.”18 In a letter dated 24 January 1983, she wrote to her niece Louise, “Oh, I often think of St-Bobo! I cannot prevent my mind from flying off towards that corner of Manitoba.”19 When four years had gone by, the sisters felt ready to leave the big city.

The Final Years in St. Boniface Saint-Boniface … has come to be my first port, my home so to speak, and I love it. —Pauline Boutal, 1974 20

221. Suzanne Hubicki, Pauline Boutal, Margot Hubicki, and Louise Warwick, c. 1985.

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In 1984, Pauline Boutal and Christiane Le Goff returned to St. Boniface and withdrew discreetly to the Manoir Grenoble, their former residence at 415 Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Boutal would live there for five years with Christiane, close to her sister Suzanne Hubicki and her niece Louise (Zizi) (Fig. 221). Pauline and Christiane were glad to be close once again to Le Cercle Molière and they regularly attended performances.21 In 1989, the artist became paralyzed and lost the motor function in her legs. The woman who had enjoyed long walks so keenly was now confined to a wheelchair and spent a year and a half at the St. Boniface General Hospital. She was highly respected by the community and often had the benefit of special care, even being allowed by the staff to take a glass of wine with her evening meal. In 1990, at the age of ninety-six, she drew her last portrait (Fig. 222). In this self-portrait, the felt pen drawing on paper, the strokes capture the weight of her head leaning on her hand; the back is bent and her eyes are fixed on the viewer. The practice of drawing, which had been pivotal in her daily life, was still with her at the end. Resigned to her condition, Boutal moved to the Centre Taché, a geriatric hospital, where she spent her final years. From her room, she could see the Red River, the north face of the cathedral and the back of

222. Drawing, c. 1990. Self-portrait sketched with felt pen, at the Centre Taché. Pauline Boutal was then ninety-six.

the Musée de Saint-Boniface, which was housed in the former Grey Nuns’ convent. It was the St. Boniface the artist had known so well and had so loved to paint. As she wrote in 1973: There are the memories, and I think that’s what holds us fast more than anything.… I spent the greater part of my life here, and there are very few corners of it that do not bring back episodes, moments of joy and happiness with my family, my husband, Other times as well, alas, difficult and sad, but just as cherished. In the end, life is a story that stays hidden deep in our heart and that we like to relive in our thoughts.22 From 9 April to 10 May 1992, an exhibition of thirty of Boutal’s works was shown at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. This fourth solo show, titled Le Manitoba: ombres et lumières [Manitoba: Shadows and lights] consisted of a selection of sketches, drawings of costumes and stage sets, pastels, portraits, and landscapes. It constituted a real portrait of Boutal’s era and the people and places that had touched her. It was also the last tribute she would receive from her community during her lifetime. In an interview granted to La Liberté and published on 3 April 1992, she remarked, “I am surprised. This show means a lot to me. It will help me to be with you through the work.”23 187

Boutal would not see the exhibition. At the age of ninety-eight, she was frail and bedridden. Christiane Le Goff faithfully watched over her sister who, growing weaker at the end of her long life, sank slowly into unconsciousness. She passed away in St. Boniface on 30 April 1992 and, in accordance with her wishes, expressed in a letter written years earlier in 1977, was buried next to her husband, Arthur, in the St. Boniface cemetery (Fig. 223): The dead keep us rooted in the country.… My brothers are also gone and have been buried in Canadian soil. My turn will come some day and it’s here in Canada that I would like to rest, next to my people, especially my husband. God knows what the circumstances will be of my final days but my great desire is to come back to them, no matter where I might be when the time comes.24

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223. Cimetière de la cathédrale et Hospice Taché [Cathedral cemetery and Hospice Taché], 1973. The former Hospice Taché can be seen in the background.

Conclusion

In the history of western Canada’s art, Pauline Boutal remains a remarkable Canadian. Although she had reason to take pride in her accomplishments, she was not concerned with glory. Yet even if she did not attempt to clamber into the pantheon of popular artists, it was not for lack of ambition. Rather, she was trained for teamwork, and that was the ultimate goal that would direct her artist’s hand, whether in the stained-glass workshop in Brittany, at the newspaper Le Nouvelliste, in Le Cercle Molière’s company of players or at Brigdens, where even well-known artists did not sign their drawings but worked anonymously on the Eaton’s catalogue. Boutal (Fig. 224) certainly succeeded in living a genuine artist’s life in western Canada in the first half of the twentieth century, though few other women achieved this to the extent she did. She was virtually alone in doing so both in the visual arts and theatre simultaneously. Her correspondence and access to her personal history make it possible to follow the development of a woman artist along with that of the arts community in Winnipeg to which her work is so closely connected. Her personal writings paint a wonderful portrait of the activities of the Winnipeg Art Club, Winnipeg School of Art, and Manitoba Society of Artists, and of the theatre scene in Winnipeg and St. Boniface, in which the artists of the time took an interest and participated actively. For her contribution to Le Cercle Molière, Boutal was inducted into the Order of Canada. The theatre company’s archives at the St. Boniface heritage centre, the Centre du patrimoine, contain a collection of many hundreds of drawings for costumes, sets, posters and programmes that she had produced for the company’s repertoire from 1925 to 1976, which provide invaluable first-hand information on the country’s oldest theatre company and the history of theatre in Canada. In the early twenty-first century, when a reinterpretation of the preceding era’s historical and cultural context has sparked new interest in its women artists, Boutal’s contribution to the Winnipeg arts scene is crucial to analyzing and understanding not only the extraordinary lives these women led and what their work meant to the early part of our century, but also the crossover of genres we are currently seeing. Historians

224. Pauline Boutal, 1950.

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and museum curators are rediscovering academy-trained painters who, like Boutal, were practising during the early half of the last century. As mentioned, in 1963 the American critic Clement Greenberg called attention to the importance of these artists, among them Boutal, whom he ranks among representational painters of the first order on the international scene: “I would have liked their pictures anywhere: in New York, Paris or London.”1 Drawing and painting were central to Boutal’s life, both personally and professionally, and until her last days she was dedicated to perfecting the techniques she had learned in the course of her studies. Nonetheless, she regretted not having painted enough for herself. For one thing, she was torn between her commitment to Le Cercle Molière and her dedication to her painting; but more than that, she wanted to sell her paintings and her clients preferred a traditional style. Her real talent is more clearly evident in the pieces she produced for her own pleasure and those from Paris and Cape Cod, with their expressive execution, more intimate approach to presentation, and bolder choice of colours. Her subjects speak to her culture and her life. Winnipeg Free Press critic Alison Gillmor maintained that “Works of art need a story to jump off the museum walls.”2 Boutal’s works, no doubt influenced by her involvement in theatre, certainly told stories. In general, her choice of subjects remained very personal and amounted to an autobiographical account, whether she was depicting the faces of people she knew or scenes and landscapes from her adopted and native lands. She was an outstanding portraitist who painted her community. Her “Bonifacian” scenes present the St. Boniface of her youth, which she first came to know at the age of thirteen when the Le Goff family moved there and which was the site of her passionate, dramatic, and artistic love for Arthur Boutal. If there are few human figures in these paintings, it is because the place itself, steeped in culture, becomes the character with a story to tell. Among these paintings are to be found her most remarkable pieces. It is not possible to exaggerate how deeply Pauline Boutal was attached to her community and devoted to her art, with one feeding into the other. “I love all my paintings,” she wrote, “they are my children, they’re my family.”3 They are also a destiny she embraced in becoming freely and passionately an artist.

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Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to the friends of Pauline Boutal — for their warm welcome, for their interest, encouragement, and support, for their trust in me. Without their invaluable collaboration, this book would never have seen the light of day. First of all, I would like to thank Louise Warwick, who shared her memories of her Aunt Pauline with me and gave me access to some personal documents, photo albums, and artist’s portfolios. These documents have since been deposited with the Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface. I also thank Boutal’s nephews, John Kennedy of Colorado and Tim Le Goff, now of Paris, for their significant contributions. I would like to express my appreciation to Suzanne Tremblay for the many times she cordially received me in Montreal. I am deeply indebted to Suzanne, Pauline Boutal’s friend and confidante, for having so carefully preserved five decades of correspondence with her very close friend. Pauline wrote often and Suzanne generously lent me over 1,000 letters. These letters contain essential accounts that made it possible to paint a portrait of the artist that is as faithful as possible. I would like to extend special thanks to all those who contributed enthusiastically to the book’s production—to Lise Gaboury-Diallo, who encouraged to me submit the original manuscript to Les Éditions du Blé, for her fine mind and the patience to read and reread my chapters; Laurence Véron, my attentive reader; Bernard Mulaire, for his sage advice and friendship; André Fauchon, for meticulous reference checking, which was an enormous help; Glenn Moulaison, for diligently checking the manuscript; Emmanuelle Abelé, for scrupulous correction of the proofs; and Susan Chafe, who was responsible for the book’s graphic design, for her sensitivity, intuition, and artistic talents—she was able to make this an art book that truly reflects the life and work of Pauline Boutal. My highest appreciation goes to the archivists and librarians who helped me to dig through the files: Kenlyn Collins at the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Lise Brémault at the Musée de Saint-Boniface; Joanne Pelletier, Carole Pelchat, and Alain Delannoy at the Université de Saint-Boniface; and Nicole Guyot-Coulson of the gallery at the Centre culturel francomanitobain. Thanks also to Gilles Lesage at the Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface for his patience and interest, and to Jacinthe Duval and Lorne Coulson. For the English version, I would like to thank archivist Julie Reid for her help with the Fonds Suzanne Tremblay. 193

I very much want to thank the équipe du tonnerre, Roger and Bernard Léveillé and Les Éditions du Blé. Without their efforts, this book would not have been published. Thanks to Roger for his incisive suggestions, scrupulous correction, and the interest he displayed in the work of Pauline Boutal. Thanks to Bernard for his expertise in publishing, his good taste, and having ensured that the production would be of the highest quality. Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the staff at the University of Manitoba Press regarding this second edition and English translation of Pauline Boutal, Destin d’artiste. Thank you to David Carr for encouraging this project and to the Press’s editorial board for agreeing to undertake the English translation. I extend a special thank you to Glenn Bergen, managing editor, for his insight and patience during the revision process. I could not have hoped for a more professional publishing team. I was fortunate to have Sue Stewart as a translator. Thank you, Sue, for taking such great care of the French to English translation, especially for so faithfully grasping both narratives, for your attention to detail, and your sincere interest in Pauline Boutal’s story. It was a pleasure working with you. I would like to thank Susan Chafe, who agreed to design the second edition. I would also like to thank David Larsen, sales and marketing supervisor, and editors Anne Molgat and Patricia Bovey. I am especially grateful to Patricia Bovey for her advice and encouragement. Without Pat, this English version would not exist today. This edition was made possible with the support of the University of Manitoba Press, the Cercle Molière, and the Université de Saint-Boniface (USB). Special thanks go to Aline Campagne and Geneviève Pelletier of the Cercle Molière for so gracefully agreeing to support this project. Thank you, Raymonde Gagné, Gabor Csepregi, and Gisèle Barnabé at the USB for understanding the importance of Pauline Boutal’s story. Your interest and encouragement were crucial to this project. Also worthy of mention is the generous financial assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts and The Winnipeg Foundation. And, finally, I am grateful to the friends and family of Pauline Boutal who allowed, for this second edition, the reproduction of paintings in their collections. At the same time, I regret that certain of Pauline Boutal’s closest friends, among them Léonie and Monique Guyot and Léo Rémillard, are no longer with us to savour the invaluable contributions they made to this book. I am personally indebted to Pauline Boutal, for her beautiful writings, for her spirit and devotion to the arts throughout her long life. Above all, I would like to express my appreciation to my husband, Denis Lavoie, who is as passionate as I am about Pauline Boutal’s story and provided unflagging support throughout the project. Finally, I thank my family, Daniel, André, Michel, and Janique, for their confidence in me and their sense of humour. And to my grandchildren Elya and Cally, thanks for the many hugs. 194

Chronology: Milestones and Exhibitions (Exhibitions are indicated in italics) 1894

On 8 September, Pauline Anne Marie Françoise Le Goff is born at 36 Rue Derœux in Lanhouarneau, Bretagne, in the Department of Finistère. The eldest child of Jean-François Le Goff and Louise Cabon, she would have two brothers and three sisters: Marie, Antoine, Suzanne, Marcel, and Christiane. The Le Goff family lives in the apartment above the workshop of Grandfather Cabon, master stained-glass window artisan, where Pauline’s father also works.

1907

On 30 September, she leaves France with her family to join her father at St. Laurent, Manitoba. Pauline, who is thirteen, is accompanied by her sisters Marie and Suzanne, her brother Antoine, her mother and her grandmother, Jeanne Ven.

1909

The Le Goff family moves to St. Boniface, where Pauline’s parents would live until their death and where they would be buried. Pauline lands her first job. She is hired by the newspaper Le Nouvelliste, where she meets her future husband, Arthur Boutal (born on 12 May 1887 in Syches, France), who is the paper’s manager. She would work there for five or six years.

1910–1912

Pauline studies drawing and painting at the Winnipeg Art Club with Louise Alexander, Adeline Baxter, George Fawcett, and Sammy Zerebrin.

1910

She appears on stage for the first time in La Petite Chocolatière, produced by the French-language theatre group Le Club dramatique français de Winnipeg, at the Winnipeg Theatre on Notre Dame Avenue.

1914

Arthur Boutal leaves St. Boniface to join the Second Battalion of France’s 125th Infantry Regiment, deployed at Ypres, the Somme, and Verdun in France.

1916

On 12 April, Pauline marries Arthur Boutal in Angoulême, France. Arthur returns to the front; Pauline lives with Arthur’s parents and works at Angoulême’s city hall.

1917

On 31 December, the Boutal couple returns to St. Boniface; Arthur finds work in printing.

1918

In February, Pauline starts working at Brigdens of Winnipeg as a fashion illustrator for the Eaton’s catalogue.

1919

On 28 May, Jean-François Le Goff, Pauline’s father, dies at age fifty-five in a train accident.

1921–1935 Pauline studies fine arts at the Winnipeg School of Art during slow times at Brigdens. She takes classes with Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Franz Johnston, George Overton, and Alexander Musgrove. 1925

Le Cercle Molière theatre company is founded; Pauline and Arthur join as technicians and actors. 1925–1975 Each year, with the exception of 1941–1943, Pauline takes part in the exhibition and sale of the Manitoba Society of Artists.

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1927

She and Arthur travel in France and Belgium.

1928

Arthur becomes the director of Le Cercle Molière.

1930

The Boutals travel in France.

1934–1935 On 12 December, Arthur’s father Jean Boutal passes away, and three weeks later, on 6 January, Arthur’s mother Claire Boutal follows him. 1938

Arthur receives the Canadian Drama Award in recognition of his contribution to the development of the dramatic arts in Canada. Arthur is also awarded the Palmes académiques by France’s Department of Education, with the title of Officer of the Academy.

1939

On 16 March, Pauline is awarded the Palmes académiques by the Comte Robert de Dampierre, the French ambassador to Canada. She is also appointed an Officer of the Academy.

1941

On 16 June, Arthur dies at the age of fifty-four. The funeral service is held at the St. Boniface Cathedral and the body is buried in the Boutal family plot in the St. Boniface cemetery. Pauline leaves her position as fashion illustrator at Brigdens, after twenty-three years of service. She replaces Arthur Boutal as Le Cercle Molière’s artistic director.

1943

In April, she takes part in the Salon des Beaux-Arts, the fine arts show mounted by the Manitoba post-secondary teachers’ association at the Collège de SaintBoniface.

1944

She receives a medal of honour from the Œuvre de secours à la France in recognition of the role she played in sending aid to France during the war and after the Liberation. The medal is presented by Jean de Hauteclocque, France’s ambassador to Canada.

1946

In July and August, she takes painting courses with her friend Georgie Wilcox at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts, under the tutelage of George Elmer Browne, Daisy Marguerite Hughes, John Whorf, and Henry Hensche. In July, she participates in the exhibition by George E. Browne’s students at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown.

1948

She receives the Canadian Drama Award in recognition of her contribution to the development of the dramatic arts in Canada. On 15 November, she is given the Republic of France’s Médaille de la Reconnaissance française. She receives the silver medal for services rendered to France.

1948–1949 In Paris, she studies at André Lhote’s studio with the master, and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière with Charles Picart-Ledoux. 1949

She takes part in the exhibition of work by students of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. She participates in a show of works by Canadian artists at the Galerie de la rue Jean du Bellay, Île Saint-Louis, in Paris, organized by the Comité d’accueil franco-canadien for the Canadian embassy. Her work is shown in an exhibition by Canadian artists at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. She sells her property at 470 Rue Horace in St. Boniface and moves into the Noella Building at 272 Avenue de la Cathédrale, Apartment 5.

1950

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On 28 and 29 September, she participates in a show with Jan Kamienski and Victor Friesen at the Studio of Phillips-Gutkin and Associates, Winnipeg.

1958–1967 On Saturday mornings, from September to May, she teaches drawing to children in St. Boniface. 1961

In December, her work is shown at the St. Boniface library.

1962

On 11 May, she receives the Golden Boy Award in appreciation of her contribution to the art of the theatre and her dedication to the cultural life of Manitoba.

1964

In December, she moves into the Tour Eiffel building at 291 Rue Goulet, Apartment 617, and in July 1966, she switches to Apartment 616.

1967

In June, her work is shown at the Musée de Saint-Boniface upon its inauguration.

1968

On 16 June, her mother, Louise Le Goff, passes away. In October, she moves with her sister Christiane to the Manoir Grenoble at 415 Rue Saint-JeanBaptiste, Apartment 501.

1969

From 2 to 7 December, she participates in an exhibition titled Seize artistes contemporains de Saint-Boniface [Sixteen contemporary artists from St. Boniface] at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain.

1970

From 1 May to 31 August, her work is shown in 150 Years of Art in Manitoba: Struggle for a Visual Civilization, an exhibition presented by the Winnipeg Art Gallery at the Legislature Building.

1971

On 19 May, she receives the French culture order of merit, the Ordre du Mérite de la Culture française, in recognition of the years she devoted to making French culture known in Canada, principally owing to her long association with Le Cercle Molière and her national reputation as a painter. The ceremony is held on 29 May in Ottawa, in the Parliament’s Confederation Hall. From June to August, she travels in France with Christiane and their niece Lynn Warwick. They visit Brest, Angoulême, Paris, and Nice. In November, her work is exhibited at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain.

1973

On 19 June, she is inducted into the Order of Canada as a Member, which confers the right to include the initials “C.M.” after her name. The investiture is held in Ottawa on 24 October.

1974

From 23 to 28 January, her first large-scale solo show, titled Madame Pauline Boutal, marks the inauguration of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain in St. Boniface. From 30 May to 14 October, her work is shown in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s exhibition The Brigden Collection. She travels to France with Christiane Le Goff, Suzanne Tremblay, Rhéa Saucier, her nephew Tim Le Goff, and his wife Judy.

1975

From 22 to 29 April, a second solo show at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain is dedicated to a retrospective of her career. On 25 April, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain’s new theatre is inaugurated; it is named the Salle Pauline-Boutal in honour of the Grande Dame of Le Cercle Molière. She is presented with a certificate by Joseph Guay, Member of Parliament for St. Boniface, in recognition of distinguished service rendered to the people in the riding.

1975–1976 From 14 November to 4 January, her work is shown in the exhibition Images of Woman at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. 1977

She travels to France with Christiane Le Goff.

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In July and September, her work is shown in the Manisphere Juried Art Show mounted by the Manitoba Society of Artists at Winnipeg’s Centennial Centre. 1978

Her work is shown in the exhibition Les peintres et la peinture du Manitoba français [Painters and painting in French Manitoba] from 6 to 20 May at the Sainte-Anne cultural centre, and from 21 May to 30 June at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. On 30 May, the University of Manitoba awards her an honorary doctorate at the graduation ceremony of the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface.

1980

In April and May, she takes part in the exhibition titled Artistes de chez-nous [Our own artists] at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. From 19 September to 1 December, her works appear in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s exhibition Flowers: From the WAG Collection.

1981

In June, at 87, she leaves St. Boniface with Christiane, 66, to live in Montreal close to their dear friend Suzanne Tremblay. They will live for four years at 1450 Rue Plessis, Apartment 305. On 3 July, she is appointed a Member of the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique in recognition of her many contributions to the world of the arts and for her long years of dedication to Le Cercle Molière. In Quebec, on 4 July, Roland Mahé accepts the Order’s medal and scroll in her name from Quebec’s Premier René Lévesque. The Pauline-Boutal Bursary is created. The Quebec government’s Conseil de la langue française, the French-language council, grants $5,000 to Le Cercle Molière to carry on her work of French-language outreach in the community through drama training for young Franco-Manitobans.

1982

From 27 January to 21 February, a third extensive solo exhibition is mounted at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, with the title Paysages et Bâtiments: 1947 à 1978 [Landscapes and buildings: 1947 to 1978]. From 31 October to 26 November, her work is shown as part of the exhibition Art in Winnipeg, 1955 to 1959, at Gallery One One One in the University of Manitoba’s School of Art.

1984

Back in St. Boniface, Pauline and Christiane once again take up residence at the Manoir Grenoble, 415 Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, in Apartment 506.

1989

Pauline is afflicted with paralysis and loses the motor function in her legs. She will spend a year and a half at the St. Boniface General Hospital.

1990

She enters the Centre Taché, the geriatric hospital in St. Boniface, where she will spend the last two years of her life.

1991

From 28 April to 25 August, her work is shown in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Recent Historical Acquisitions exhibition.

1992

From 17 March to 11 September, the Winnipeg Art Gallery organizes a second run of the Recent Historical Acquisitions exhibition. From 9 April to 10 May, a fourth large-scale solo exhibition of her work is presented at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, titled Le Manitoba: ombres et lumières [Manitoba: Shadows and lights]. On 30 April, Pauline Boutal dies at the age of 97; her remains are buried in the Boutal family plot in the St. Boniface cemetery. Works by Pauline Boutal are exhibited on the mezzanine of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain.

1993

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From 5 June to 19 September, her works are featured in the Winnipeg Art

Gallery’s exhibition The Figure in Canadian Art. 1994

From 11 September to 27 November, her work appears in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s exhibition Stored Secrets, The Vault on View.

1995

From 18 June to 12 November, her work appears in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s exhibition Women’s Art/Women’s Lives: Women Artists in Manitoba Prior to 1955.

1997–1999 From May 1997 to May 1999, her work is featured in En paroles et en gestes, portraits de femmes du Manitoba français [In words and gestures, portraits of French Manitoba’s women] at the Musée de Saint-Boniface, mounted in collaboration with the Réseau organization. 1998

From 25 September to 20 December, the exhibition titled Près de chez nous [Close to home] is presented in the Salon Empire of the Centre du patrimoine in St. Boniface. Her work is also included in the virtual exhibition Les gestes et les mots, Les artistes francophones au Canada [Gestures and words, Canada’s francophone artists] presented by the Virtual Museum of Canada and produced by the Canadian Heritage Information Network.

1999

She is inducted into the Temple de la renommée de la culture [The cultural hall of fame] created by the Centre culturel franco-manitobain.

2000

From February to April, her work is displayed in the Acquisitions récentes [Recent Acquisitions] exhibition presented in the Salon Empire at the Centre du patrimoine, St. Boniface. From 28 May to 31 December, her pieces are included in The View from Here: Selections from the Canadian Historical Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

2000–2001 From November to September, her work is featured in the exhibition titled Rappel sur scène, Historique du théâtre au Manitoba français [Curtain call, French Manitoba’s theatre history] at the Musée de Saint-Boniface, mounted in collaboration with Le Cercle Molière. 2001

From 7 June to 26 August, her works are featured in the Brigdens of Winnipeg exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

2002

From 1 May to 28 July, her works appear in the exhibition titled The Manitoba Society of Artists, 100th Anniversary: Selections from the Historical Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

2004–2005 From 21 August to 6 March, her work is featured in Canadian Mosaic: Selections from the WAG’s 20th Century Canadian Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. 2005

From 12 May to 19 June, her work is featured in the exhibition TrésArt: 30 ans de collection [Treas-Art: 30 years of collecting] at the Centre culturel francomanitobain. From 23 June to 28 July, it appears in the rBr show at the at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain.

2005–2006 From 23 July to 13 August, her work is shown in Into the Collection, an exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. 2007

From 4 July to 10 November, her work appears at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in the exhibition Around Here, Historical Scenes of Manitoba.

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Notes

Introduction 1. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 28 July 1964, 4, Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface (ASHSB), Fonds Suzanne Tremblay (FST), 0548/1574/11. 2. Patricia E. Bovey, in Mary Jo Hughes, Brigdens of Winnipeg (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2001), 5. 3. Angela Davis in Hughes, Brigdens of Winnipeg, 7. 4. Dr. Michael Large in Hughes, Brigdens of Winnipeg, 8. 5. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 August 1964, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/11.

Chapter 1: A Childhood in Brittany 1. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école [From childhood, and well before starting school]” [Topic: Artistic history of Pauline Boutal], n.d., 1, ASHSB, Fonds Pauline Boutal (FPB), 0023/579/120. 2. “I was always playing with pieces of charcoal and all sorts of things that I could find around my grandfather’s workshop.” Boutal in Andrew Hretzay and Maurice Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” unpublished file, Winnipeg, 1974, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/87. 3. Ibid. “Once in a while I was told to get out and go upstairs. Very often grandfather and father told me to ‘go back to your grandmother.’” 4. Bernard Bocquel, interview with the author, 9 February 2006. 5. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque à Saint-Boniface et à Winnipeg, 1909–1929 [Secular theatre in St. Boniface and Winnipeg, 1909–1929], Le Cercle Molière, 1925–1974,” in Chapeau bas: réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français, Part 2 (St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1985), 205. 6. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 1. 7. Susan Ruttan, “At 80, Madame Boutal still a working artist,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 July 1976, 42. 8. Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972, Radio-Canada, Winnipeg, Oral History Project, Manitoba Museum Collections (MMC), Tape No. 84 (120 mins). 9. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 1. 10. Giselle Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre [Making poetry with colours, Pauline Boutal, painter],” La Liberté, 23 January 1974, 8–9. 11. “Nous habitions dans un gros bourg à 30 kil. de Brest, c’est-à-dire en campagne. Comparez cela à Wpg—La Broquerie si vous voulez et vous avez une idée de notre vie à ce temps-là. [We lived in a large market town 30 kilometres from Brest, in the country. Compare that to Wpg—La Broquerie if you like and you’ll have some idea of our life at the time.]” Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 October 1979, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/59.

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12. Pauline Boutal, “Madame Pauline Boutal raconte ses souvenirs d’enfance à SaintLaurent [Madame Pauline Boutal recounts her memories of childhood in SaintLaurent],” in Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, by Donatien Frémont, 15 (St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980). 13. Lillian Gibbons, “An Album of Winnipeg Women,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 March 1941, 13. 14. “Pauline’s father a church decorator” [Topic: Autobiographical notes], n.d., 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. 15. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 2. 16. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 24 November 1966, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/19. 17. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin for the broadcast program Gens de mon pays, 2 February 1972, ASHSB, Fonds Société Radio-Canada (FSRC), CKSB, Tape No. BS 50021 (31 mins). 18. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 2. 19. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 24 November 1966, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/19. 20. Address upon receiving an honorary doctorate from the Collège universitaire de SaintBoniface at the University of Manitoba Convocation, 30 May 1978, 4, Coll. L. Guyot. 21. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 2. 22. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 December 1976, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/41. 23. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé [Madam, you seem to have rifled through my past]” [Topic: The Le Goff family’s arrival in Saint-Laurent], n.d., 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. 24. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. 25. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé,” 1. 26. Donatien Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien (St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980), 13. 27. Ibid.

Chapter 2: The Breton Emigrants in St. Laurent, Manitoba 1. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé,” 5. 2. “Et nous voici maintenant à l’année 1907 [And here we are in the year 1907]” [Topic: Sale and exhibition by the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association], n.d., 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/119. 3. Monique Hébert, “189[4]–1992 Pauline Boutal, Une vie consacrée à l’art [189[4]–1992 Pauline Boutal, a life dedicated to art],” Femmes d’action: revue d’information et de réflexion des femmes francophones vol. 22, no.1 (1992): 9. 4. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 December 1976, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/41. 5. “Un dimanche” [Topic: The Le Goff family’s embarcation, ocean crossing and the beginning of their stay in Saint-Laurent], n.d., 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/87. 6. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé,” 3. 7. “Et nous voici maintenant à l’année 1907,” 1. 8. Boutal, “Cette paroisse ‘pas comme les autres’—Souvenirs de Mme Pauline Boutal” [“This parish ‘unlike the others’—Memories of Ms. Pauline Boutal”], Ami du Foyer (St. Boniface) vol. 56, no. 7 (October 1961): 5. 9. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé,” 3. 10. Ibid. 11. “Cette paroisse ‘pas comme les autres,’” 5. 12. “Et nous voici maintenant à l’année 1907,” 1. 13. Ibid. 14. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 3. 15. “Un dimanche,” 1.

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16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

40. 41. 42. 43.

Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 28 December 1971, 1–2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/44. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé,” 4. “Un dimanche,” 1. “Et nous voici maintenant à l’année 1907,” 1. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. Boutal, “Madame Pauline Boutal raconte ses souvenirs d’enfance à Saint-Laurent,” 15. Ibid. “Un dimanche,” 1. Boutal, “Madame Pauline Boutal raconte ses souvenirs d’enfance à Saint-Laurent,” 15. Ibid. Ibid., 17. Ibid. Ibid., 19. Ibid., 13. Ibid., 18. Ibid., 17. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 October 1979, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/59. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 3. Boutal, “Madame Pauline Boutal raconte ses souvenirs d’enfance à Saint-Laurent,” 19. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 4. Boutal, “Cette paroisse ‘pas comme les autres,’” 7–8. Christiane Le Goff, interview with Jacqueline Blay, broadcast by Jacques Tibodot, “Portrait de Franco-Manitobains, Reflets d’un pays,” Avec le temps, 1988, ASHSB, FSRC, CKSB, Tape No.BS50179 (53 mins, 36 secs). Boutal, “Madame Pauline Boutal raconte ses souvenirs d’enfance à Saint-Laurent,” 19. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 28 December 1971, 1–2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/44. “Un dimanche,” 1. “Mes chers élèves [My dear pupils]” [Topic: St. Boniface 1909], talk given at École Taché, St. Boniface, n.d. 1974, 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/119.

Chapter 3: The Le Goff Family in St. Boniface 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9. 10. 11.

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“Mes chers élèves,” 1. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. “Mes chers élèves,” 1. Ibid., 4. Ibid., 3. Ibid., 2. Rue Ritchot is located a few streets over from Rue Deschambault, where the Roy family resided and Gabrielle Roy had just been born, on 23 March 1909. François Ricard, Gabrielle Roy, Une vie (Montreal: Les Éditions du Boréal, 1996), 15, 47. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 58. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 6 March 1978, 2–3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/55. “In September 1907, Le Nouvelliste was established in Saint-Boniface.… It was first printed in Saint-Boniface on Provencher Boulevard. The newspaper’s shop moved to Winnipeg in 1909, to Garry Street.… From Garry, it quickly moved to Smith. Finally, in 1911, having been renamed Le Soleil de l’Ouest, it occupied the third floor of the Pulford Building on Donald Street.” Lucile Freynet, “Souvenirs de Mme P. Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (to be continued),”

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 22 March 1963, 3. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. Ruttan, “At 80, Madame Boutal still a working artist,” 42. Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” 2. Lucile Freynet, “Souvenirs de Mme Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (cont’d),” Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 29 March 1963, 3. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 62. Ibid., 62. Ibid., 61. Ibid.

Chapter 4: Arthur Boutal 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12.

13.

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

“Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 4. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 61. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 4. Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 60. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 4. “Pauline Boutal” [Topic: Autobiographical notes], 1 May 1963, 3, Winnipeg Art Gallery Archives, Artist’s File, Boutal, Pauline Le Goff, 1894–1992. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 4. Jacqueline des Érables, “Pour qui voter?,” La Liberté, 4 May 1920, 3. At that time, Pauline Boutal’s activities, at least as represented by the columnists for the local French-language press, would generally have been looked at askance by the Franco-Manitoban community. “The columnists [three ladies who wrote the Women’s Section of La Liberté from 1915 to 1930] were however careful to distance themselves from contemporary feminism. In fact, the Women’s Section, at least at first, had clearly been conceived as a French Catholic alternative to English-Canadian feminism. ‘The pen’ therefore appears to be a modern instrument to reaffirm and celebrate the exemplary feminine role in French-Canadian society, in opposition to the NorthAmerican models of the modern woman” (Jacqueline des Érables, 24 June 1919). Luc Côté, “Modernité et identité: la chronique féminine dans le journal La Liberté, 1915–1930,” Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’Ouest 10, no. 1 (1998): 57. On this subject, also see Chapter 8. “Pauline Boutal” [Topic: Autobiographical notes], 1 May 1963, 3. Foster would become famous in the 1920s for his illustrations of Tarzan of the Apes and then, in the 1930s, for the weekly Sunday comic strip Tarzan. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 5. See: Last Dog Train Leaving Lower Fort Garry, 1909, Charles Comfort, P-395, published in the 1931 calendar, Archives of Manitoba (AM), Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Documentary Art 2, HBC Calendar Series, P-378-P-452. Helen Goodman, “Women Illustrators of the Golden Age of American Illustration,” Women’s Art Journal 8 (Spring and Summer 1987): 15. “Autour d’un roman—fiction et réalité [Around a novel—fiction and reality],” n.d., 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. Francisque Poulbot, French illustrator, born in Saint-Denis, 1879–1946. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, July 1999. La Petite Feuille de Saint-Boniface, 19 December 1912, 2. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 8. Ibid. Ibid. Le Manitoba was the Conservative newspaper and rival of Le Nouvelliste (Le Soleil

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de l’Ouest). Interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972, Radio-Canada, Winnipeg, Oral History Project, MMC, Tape No. 84 (120 mins). 23. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 8. 24. Bernard Mulaire, “Madame Pauline Boutal” [Topic: Answers to a biographical questionnaire submitted by Bernard Mulaire], 26 March 1980, 11, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/100. 25. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 8.

Chapter 5: Pauline and Arthur’s Engagement 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26.

Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. Monique Hébert, “189[4]–1992 Pauline Boutal, Une vie consacrée à l’art,” 9. Doris McCubbin, “Madame Boutal,” Chatelaine, February 1954, 26. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 205. Louise Warwick, interview with the author, 1998. Christiane Le Goff, interview with Jacqueline Blay, broadcast by Jacques Tibodot, “Portrait de Franco-Manitobains, Reflets d’un pays,” Avec le temps, 1988, ASHSB, FSRC, CKSB, Tape No.BS50179 (53 mins, 36 secs). Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. “Second Festival Français [Second French Festival],” Le Nouvelliste, 11 May 1911, 1. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 58. Gibbons, “An Album of Winnipeg Women,” 13. Frank Morriss, “Woman of the Week: Behind the Scenes,” n.d. [1950], ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/15. Ibid. Françoise des Bois, “Ce jour baisse, encore quelques minutes [The daylight is dwindling, just a few more minutes],” La Liberté, 15 November 1916, 2. Thérèse de Saint-Éloi, “L’année bisextile [sic] [The bisextile year],” La Liberté, 4 March 1924, 5. Ibid. “Wed St. Boniface Girl in France,” n.d. [1916], ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/88. Bernard Mulaire and David Karel, “Boutal, Pauline (née Le Goff),” in Dictionnaire des artistes de langue française en Amérique du Nord, by David Karel (Sainte-Foy: Presses de l’Université Laval, 1992), 122. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. Letters from Suzanne Deleval to Pauline Boutal, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/111–113. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 5. Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” 4. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 January 1965,1-2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/14. Lucile Freynet, “Souvenirs de Mme P. Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (to be continued)”, Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 22 March 1963, 3. Ibid. Annette Saint-Pierre, Le rideau se lève au Manitoba (St. Boniface: Les Éditions des Plaines, 1980), 124.

Chapter 6: The Eaton’s Catalogue at Brigdens 1. Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre,” 8. 2. According to the statistics, in 1901 Winnipeg’s population totalled 42,340 residents and by 1911, when Pauline was working at Le Nouvelliste and taking her first course

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3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

15. 16.

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

29. 30.

at the Winnipeg Art Club, the population had reached 135,035. Allan Levine, “Chicago of the North, Booming Winnipeg Becomes a Metropolis,” in Manitoba 125, A History, Gateway to the West, Vol. 2 (Winnipeg: Great Plains Publications, 1994), 68. Marilyn Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, The Early Years (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1998), 28. The Brigdens shop was located at the intersection of Langside and Notre Dame Streets in the Farmer’s Advocate Building. Timothy Eaton, who founded the T. Eaton Company in 1869, well understood the power of advertising art and the importance of the press and marketing. It was thanks to his vision and his innovative approach to advertising that the mail-out catalogue made its commanding entrance into urban and rural homes across the country. John Brehl, “Centennial Story, Canada’s Family Store,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 February 1969, 51. John Brehl, “Centennial Story,” 51. Angela Davis in Marilyn Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, 92. John Phillips was the son of the artist Walter J. Phillips. Jacques de Roussan, Philip Surrey (Montreal: Lidec Inc., 1968), n.p. John Phillips, interview with the author, December 1997. Ibid. Ibid., translation by Pierre Cantin. Sandra Johnson, “Art and Artists,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1971, 3. Normal proportions of the human figure are 1:7, contrary to the abnormal standards used in fashion illustration of 1:8.5. Brigdens followed this model, which is familiar to artists, and Boutal made it her specialty. Louise Duguay, “Pauline Le Goff Boutal, 1894–1992, illustratrice et artiste peintre [Pauline Le Goff Boutal, 1894–1992, Illustrator and Painter],” M.A. thesis, University of Manitoba, 1999. John Phillips, interview with the author, December 1997. Christiane Le Goff, interview with Jacqueline Blay, broadcast by Jacques Tibodot, “Portrait de Franco-Manitobains, Reflets d’un pays,” Avec le temps, 1988, ASHSB, FSRC, CKSB, Tape No.BS50179, (53 mins, 36 secs). Percy Edgar became the Brigdens artistic director in 1920 and held the position until 1946. Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, 95. John Phillips, interview with the author, December 1997. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 24 February 1975, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/36. Keith Smith, interview with the author, February 1999. Marilyn Baker, interview with the author, November 1997. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 April 1974, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/34. The Brigdens of Winnipeg archives are held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The index of the Eaton’s files can be found at the Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg. Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, 93. Boutal in Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture.” John Phillips, interview with the author, 1997. In 1967, twenty-six years after her resignation from Brigdens, Pauline Boutal went to meet Dora Ligertwood Jones (Ligie) of Vancouver when she was passing through Winnipeg. Needless to say, the topic of the day was Brigdens. “We lunched at Eaton’s and of course our tongues were loosened. She made me laugh, her memories of the old days of ‘captivity’ are so hilarious!” Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 September 1967, 2–3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/22. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 June 1974, 3-4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/34. Since the Brigdens artists only attended classes at slow times between catalogues, the school’s rolls do not include their registrations. As a result, since they did not follow a regular schedule of courses, it is hard to know exactly which of the artists were attending.

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Chapter 7: The Winnipeg School of Art and the Manitoba Society of Artists 1. Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 5. 2. According to Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, records show that Pauline Boutal was registered only for the years 1920 and 1921. However, as mentioned in the previous chapter on Brigdens, the employees attended art classes during slower periods. It is therefore possible that the Winnipeg School of Art (WSA) did not register Pauline Boutal and the other artists as students because they were not attending for the entire year. 3. Nancy E. Dillow, The Forgotten Innovator, Alexander J. Musgrove (Winnipeg, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1986) 11. 4. Ibid., 9. 5. Franz Johnston was a member of the Group of Seven from 1920 until 1924 and Canada’s official war artist in 1917 and 1918. Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, 102. 6. Johnson, “Art and Artists,” 3. 7. Morriss, “Woman of the Week: Behind the Scenes.” 8. Johnson, “Art and Artists,” 3. 9. Paul Léveillé, interview with the author, May 2004. 10. Minutes Book, AM, 478/2, Manitoba Society of Artists 1936–1952. 11. Walter J. Phillips, “Manitoba Artist Exhibit Proves Best of Series, Tenth Annual Show Maintains High Standard of Local Exhibitors,” n.d. [1936], AM, 478/2, Manitoba Society of Artists 1936–1952. 12. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 5. 13. In 1940, at the Manitoba Society of Artists (MSA) exhibition, Pauline Boutal showed a work in plaster titled François, which was perhaps the piece that was accidentally broken between 1945 and 1949. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 10 May 2004. 14. Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972. 15. Patricia E. Bovey, “Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, L’homme [The Man],” in Patricia E. Bovey and Ann Davis, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956): The Development of an Artist. Catalogue for the exhibition organized and toured by the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978–1979, 16. 16. Bovey, “Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, L’influence exercée sur son œuvre par certains artistes européens [The influence on his work of certain European artists],” in Bovey and Davis, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956), 73. 17. Ibid. 18. Jan Kamienski, “Art growth in West depended on painter’s origins,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 June 1967, 13. 19. Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald became a member of the Group of Seven in 1932 and was a founder of the Canadian Group of Painters. Baker, The Winnipeg School of Art, 97–98. 20. Bovey, “Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, L’influence exercée sur son œuvre par certains artistes européens [The influence on his work of certain European artists],” 74. 21. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 19. 22. Letter to her mother. “Et les autres,” n.d. [1946], 5, Coll. L. Warwick.

Chapter 8: A Shared Passion for Theatre 1. “Le Cercle Molière offre un banquet à M. et Mme Boutal [Le Cercle Molière holds a banquet for Mr. and Mrs. Boutal],” La Liberté, 21 September 1938, 2. 2. Thérèse de Saint-Éloi, “L’année bisextile [sic] [The leap year],” La Liberté, 4 March 1924, 5.

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3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

19.

20.

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

27.

28. 29.

30. 31. 32.

Louise Warwick, interview with the author, 1997. Ibid. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. A small theatre company organized by Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Lévesque. André Castelein de la Lande directed two plays, with Mr. and Mrs. Lévesque. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 207. “La Gauloise was a French club. For the most part, it presented one-act plays, vaudeville turns, songs and variety shows.” Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 206. Ibid. Letter to Margot Gagnon, 19 September 1965, 3, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/102. Ibid. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 207. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., 212. Ibid., 209. Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” 6. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 63. Frémont, “À nos Amis de la Campagne [To our friends in the country],” L’écho littéraire et artistique [Literary and artistic echo],” supplement in La Liberté, n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/5. Lucile Freynet, “Souvenirs de Mme Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (cont’d),” Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 29 March 1963, 3. “La tournée de La Liberté fait de brillants débuts à St-Malo et à St-Eustache [La Liberté’s tour makes a brilliant start in St-Malo and St-Eustache],” La Liberté, n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/73. Freynet, “Souvenirs de Mme P. Boutal [Memories of Mrs. P. Boutal] (cont’d).” Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 214. Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972. “La tournée de La Liberté à La Broquerie et à Lorette [La Liberté ’s tour at La Broquerie and Lorette,” La Liberté, n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/73. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 215. “The composition and designing of sets and costumes is very close to illustration, and as an artist I could not find a better medium to help my husband, Arthur Boutal, in his theatrical work.” “Pauline Boutal Designs Costumes for Rose and Ring,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 December 1950, 12. The Brigdens artists also involved themselves in other projects, such as producing films like Millie the Model with Christiane Le Goff in the lead role, which, according to John Phillips, won an award in Toronto. John Phillips, interview with the author, December 1997. The Bill, April 1933, published by The Winnipeg Little Theatre. Archives of the FitzGerald Study Centre (FSC), University of Manitoba. “There were several amateur dramatic groups in early Winnipeg but the one with perhaps the greatest claim on remembrance was the Community Players (later the Little Theatre),” in “Theatre Here Was Popular From the Earliest Days,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 February 1950, 92. Boutal in “Pauline Boutal Designs Costumes for Rose and Ring,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 December 1950, 12. Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972. Ibid.

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33. Letter to Pauline Boutal from J. Léon Bruyère, 23 June 1975, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/102. 34. Christiane Le Goff, interview with Jacqueline Blay for Jacques Tibodot’s broadcast program “Portrait de Franco-Manitobains, Reflets d’un pays,” Avec le temps, 1988, ASHSB, FSRC, CKSB, Tape No. BS50179 (53 mins, 36 secs). 35. Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” 5.

Chapter 9: La Péninsule 1. Gabrielle Roy, “Le Cercle Molière, porte ouverte [with open door],” in Chapeau bas: réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français, Part 1 (St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980), 118. 2. Gibbons, “An Album of Winnipeg Women,” 13. 3. Louise Warwick, interview with the author, 1998. 4. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 21 June 1981, 1, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/61. 5. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 23 February 1971, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/42. 6. Letter to Margot Gagnon, 29 August 1938, 9–10, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/102. 7. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 15 February 1972, 2-3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/45. 8. Gabrielle Roy, “Le Cercle Molière, porte ouverte,” 118. 9. François Ricard, Gabrielle Roy, Une vie (Montreal: Les Éditions du Boréal, 1996), 151. 10. “Le Cercle Molière offre un banquet à M. et Mme Boutal,” La Liberté, 21 September 1938, 2. 11. The Dominion Drama Festival (1932–1939, 1947–1978) was a co-lingual amateur drama competition. Every spring, the winners of regional competitions took part in a week-long national festival. One member of the jury, either British or French, presented awards for acting, set design, directing and the best scripts and productions. The first five editions were held in Ottawa in April, from 1933 to 1937, and the following editions were held in different cities in turn. David Gardner, “Dominion Drama Festival,” Canadian Encyclopedia Historica 2007, Historica Foundation of Canada, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dominion-drama-festival. 12. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 29 January 1973, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/49. 13. Régine Marsh, interview with the author, Ottawa, February 2004. 14. “It is all very distinguished, with a concern for preserving proper French.” Annette Saint-Pierre, Le rideau se lève au Manitoba (St. Boniface: Les Éditions des Plaines, 1980), 102. 15. Frémont, Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, 58. 16. “The dynamism of this group of young French intellectuals was astonishing. Despite their demanding work and the money problems that plagued them, they shone in artistic and cultural movements.” Lucile Freynet, “Souvenirs de Mme P. Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (cont’d),” Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 29 March 1963, 3. 17. Ricard, Gabrielle Roy, Une vie, 151. 18. Ibid. 158. 19. Ibid. 20. Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” 5. 21. Bernard Bocquel, interview with the author, 29 March 1992. 22. Ibid. 23. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 217. 24. Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre,” 8. 25. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, April 2004. 26. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 June 1972, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/46. 27. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 January 1966, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/18. 28. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 March 1963, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/7.

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Chapter 10: The Years of Mourning 1. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 218. 2. Speech delivered by Pauline Boutal for the inauguration of the Salle Pauline-Boutal at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 25 April 1975, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. 3. “Pauline Boutal Designs Costumes for Rose and Ring,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 December 1950, 12. 4. Léo Rémillard, interview with the author, 20 February 2004. 5. Frémont, Les Français dans l'Ouest canadien, 71. 6. Léonie and Monique Guyot, interview with the author, 24 June 1997. 7. Doris McCubbin, “Madame Boutal “ Chatelaine, February 1954, 26. 8. “Madame Boutal gets her actors and actresses where she can find them. A vegetable pedlar, with his red nose, proved to be a real character find and he rewarded her by bringing her cabbages and celery every Saturday night.” Morriss, “Woman of the Week: Behind the Scenes.” 9. Boutal, Address delivered at the University of Manitoba convocation, when Boutal received an Honorary Doctorate from the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, 30 May 1978, 4, Coll. L. Guyot. 10. Mulaire, “Madame Pauline Boutal,” 12. 11. Note from the December 1935 circular of the Clerics of Saint Viator: “This year (1936), a talented artist, Madame Boutal of Saint-Boniface painted for us a very well rendered image representing a family observing their Day of Prayer in honour of Saint Joseph.” E-mail from Robert Hémond, Montreal, 16 April 1999, 1. 12. Gilles Lesage, interview with the author, 4 June 2004. 13. Enid Nemy, “Canada's Relief for France Is Active Concern,” Vancouver Daily Province, 13 April 1946. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/88. 14. Mr. de Hauteclocque, France’s ambassador to Canada, would send her this medal in the name of the Government of France. La Liberté et le Patriote, 1 November 1946, 2. 15. Gibbons, “An Album of Winnipeg Women,” 13. 16. Pauline Boutal’s drawings appeared in the Winnipeg Tribune in 1940: 27 June, 3; 29 June, 5; 5 July, 2; 19 July, 5; 13 August, 4. 17. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 27 February 1964, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/10. 18. Father Pierquin remained a faithful correspondent until his death on 10 December 1957. 19. Suzanne Tremblay was at Winnipeg’s French consulate from 1945 to 1960, as its manager from 1959 to 1960. She first worked as the Consul’s secretary and assistant before being put in charge of the consulate itself. Interview with the author, Montreal, 28 November 2003. 20. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, Provincetown, 7 August 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103.

Chapter 11: The Cape School of Art in Massachussetts 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

“Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 6. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 7 August 1946, 10, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 July 1946, 3–4, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 31 July 1946, p1–2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Ibid., 1. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 August 1946, 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to her mother, 22 August 1946, 2, Coll. L. Warwick. “Up at 6:30. Breakfast at 7 or 7:30. We putter, get dressed, wash, we have only one bathroom, sink, no tub. At 8:15 we go to the studio and get ready. We chat for a

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9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

40. 41. 42. 43. 44.

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minute with our friends. At 9:00, the model arrives and … we start. We slave away until noon in religious silence. At noon we clean our brushes, our palette.… After lunch, an hour’s rest.… In seconds, we pack up our outfit and make our way to an interesting spot, no doubt somewhere around the port. We will work a little on studies. At 5:00, we go home, wash and get dressed—I should tell you that all day long we’re in slacks—and we make our way back to the main house once more. Supper at 6:00.” Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 July 1946, 3, 4, 5, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 14 July 1946, 1, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to her mother, 22 August 1946, 2, Coll. L. Warwick. Ibid, 1. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 August 1946, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. “Monsieur le President, chers amis... [Mister Chairman, dear friends…]” [Topic: Stay at the Cape Cod School of Art ], n.d., 13, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 August 1946, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 August 1946, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 29 June 1946, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, n.d. [1946], 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to her mother, n.d. [1946], 2–3, Coll. L. Warwick. George Elmer Browne (1871–1946) first studied at the Boston Museum Art School and then at the Académie Julian with artist Jules Lefebvre. He received many honours in the United States and Europe. Edward Alden Jewell, “Water Color Club Holds 48th Show: George Elmer Browne's Show,” New York Times, 16 February 1937, 18. Ibid. Johnson, “Art and Artists,” 3. Letter to her mother, “Et ça crie…,” n.d. [1946], 4, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to her mother, “Mon coeur battait…,” n.d. [1946], 5, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to her mother, “Devons apporter nos…,” n.d. [1946], n.p., Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to her mother, “Et ça crie…,” n.d. [1946], 4, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to her mother, “Mon coeur battait…,” n.d., [1946], 4, Coll. L. Warwick. Ibid. Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre,” 9. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 July 1946, 3, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to her mother, “Samedi,” n.d. [1946], 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. Daisy Marguerite Hugues (1883–1968) studied at the New York Art Students League and in Europe in the mid-1920s. Chris Petteys, Dictionary of Women Artists, An international Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900 (Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1985), 355. Ibid. Ibid. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 31 July 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 7 August 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. John Whorf (1903–1959) studied with Charles W. Hawthorne in 1917 and 1918. He received informal instruction from John Singer Sargent and attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi in Paris in 1919. Letter to her mother, “Et les autres…,” n.d. [1946], 5, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 August 1946, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to her mother, “Et les autres…,” n.d. [1946], 5, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 August 1946, 4, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 August 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103.

45. Letter to her mother, “Et les autres…,” n.d. [1946], 4, Coll. L. Warwick. 46. Henry Hensche (1901–1992) studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Students League, the National Academy of Design and the Fine Arts Institute of Design. He was the school’s director beginning in 1930 and author of the book The Art of Seeing and Painting. 47. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 31 July 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. 48. Ibid. 49. Ibid. 50. Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre,” 8. 51. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 August 1946, 5, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. 52. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 7 August 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. 53. Ibid. 54. Letter to her mother, “Et les autres…,” n.d. [1946], 4, Coll. L. Warwick. 55. Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre,” 8. 56. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 August 1946, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. Chapter 12: The Académie de la Grande Chaumière 1. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école,” 6. 2. “Still every student considered it a rite of passage to spend at least a few months in Europe or U.S.A. after completing formal study in Canada.” Maria Tippett, By a Lady, Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women (Toronto: Viking, 1992), 64. 3. Letter to her mother, 9 November 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 4. Ibid. 5. Léo Rémillard, interview with the author, 13 January 2004. 6. Pauline Boutal’s diary, 16 November 1948, 3–4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/64. 7. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 2 February 1971, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/42. 8. Léo Rémillard, interview with the author, 13 January 2004. 9. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française [Topic: fine arts studies in Paris], 28 November 1949, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. 10. Letter to her mother, 3 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 11. Letter to her mother, 9 November 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 12. Pauline Boutal’s diary, 2 December 1948, 22 and 37, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/64. 13. Letter to Christiane Le Goff, 17 November 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 14. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 September 1970, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/30. 15. Letter to Christiane Le Goff, 17 November 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 16. Artist and critic André Lhote founded his own academy in the Rue d’Odessa in 1922. He also illustrated the works of Jean Cocteau and Paul Éluard. Jacques Busse, “André Lhote” in Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs, Vol. 14, by E. Bénézit (Paris: Librairie Éditions Gründ, 1999), 645. 17. Letter to her mother, 29 November 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 18. Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972. 19. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 3. 20. Ibid. 21. Ibid. 22. Ibid. 23. Letter to Madame Le Goff, 12 December 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 24. Busse, “André Lhote,” 645. 25. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, November 2003. 26. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 5 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 27. Académie de la Grande Chaumière, 14, rue de la Grande-Chaumière, 6th arrondissement, Paris.

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28. Paul Virilio, “On ne regarde plus les étoiles, mais les écrans [We’re no longer looking at stars, but at screens],” Interview, statements recorded by Pierre Boncenne, in Le Monde de l'éducation 287 (December 2000): 12. 29. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 4. 30. Ibid. 31. Letter to Louise Kennedy [Warwick], 23 February 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 32. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 12 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, 0023/578/105. 33. Letter to Christiane Le Goff, 21 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 34. “Alas! I didn’t get the chance and I deeply regret it. He died two weeks after I started studying at La Grande Chaumière.” Boutal, “Saint-Norbert, October 51,” English text [Topic: studies in Paris], October 1951, 6, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. 35. Ossip Zadkine (1890–1967), Edouard MacAvoy (1905–1991), Yves Brayer (1907–1990), Othon Friesz (1879–1949), and Charles Picart-Ledoux (1881–1959). 36. Letter to Christiane Le Goff, 21 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 37. “Fields of France Were Beautiful This Spring: Mrs. Arthur Boutal,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 July 1949, 10. 38. Ibid. 39. Letter to Christiane Le Goff, 21 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 40. Ibid. 3. 41. Some artists would come because they could draw a model for an afternoon for the very low price of seventy francs, heat included. Letter to her mother, 28 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 42. Letter to her mother, 28 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 43. Louise Duguay, visit to the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris, August 2002. 44. Roger Lafrenière, interview with the author, November 1996. 45. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 12 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 46. Letter to her mother, 28 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 47. Pauline Boutal’s sketchbook, Coll. Warwick. 48. Letter to Christiane Le Goff, 21 January 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 49. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 5–6. 50. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. 51. Ibid. 52. Ibid. 53. Ludovic Lucien Madrassi’s studio was located on the corner of the Rue du Bac and Rue P.L. Courier, close to the Bac métro station. 54. Letter to her mother, 3 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 55. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 56. Letter to her mother, 18 February 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 57. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 58. Letter to her mother, 12 December 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 59. Virilio, “On ne regarde plus les étoiles, mais les écrans,” 12. 60. Pauline Boutal’s diary, Paris, 27 November 1948, 17, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/64. 61. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 7, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. 62. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 April 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 63. Ibid. 64. Letter to her mother, 18 February 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 65. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 6-7. 66. Letter to her mother, 14 December 1948, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/101. 67. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 7. 68. This painting was included in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s 1970 exhibition titled 150 Years of Manitoba Art.

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69. Boutal, Talk given at the Alliance Française, 28 November 1949, 14. 70. Letter from Gabrielle Roy to Pauline Boutal, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 25 November 1948, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/99. 71. Boutal, “Saint-Norbert, October 51,” English text [Topic: studies in Paris], October 1951, 13, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. 72. “Fields of France Were Beautiful This Spring: Mrs. Arthur Boutal,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 July 1949, 10. 73. Hretzay and Asselin, “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of The French Culture,” 10. 74. Mulaire, “Madame Pauline Boutal,” 12. 75. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 76. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 30 March 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 77. Boutal, “Saint-Norbert, October 51,” 15.

Chapter 13: More than Forty Years of Work 1. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 April 1949, n.p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/105. 2. In 1948, Harry Gutkin and John Phillips established the graphic arts and photography company Phillips-Gutkin and Associates. 3. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 January 1972, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/45. 4. In 1961, Pauline Boutal painted the portrait of Joseph Gustave Van Belleghem, mayor from 1955 to 1960 (copy in 1968); c. 1962, Lt.-Col. George Campbell MacLean, mayor in 1932 and again from 1937 to 1952; in 1969, Joseph-Philippe Guay, mayor from 1961 to 1968; and in 1971, Edward Christopher Turner, mayor from 1969 to 1971. 5. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 September 1973, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/50. 6. Letter to Gratia Fortin, 2 October 1973, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67. 7. Helen Goodman, “America’s Great Women Illustrators: 1850–1950,” Arts Magazine 60 (September 1985): 16. 8. “Bulman Bros. is a company similar to Brigdens, engaged in printing and engraving, something like what Brigdens does.” Pauline Boutal also produced drawings for the Hudson Bay House magazine, printed by Bulman Bros. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 1 December 1970, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/31. 9. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 29 March 1965, 6, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/15. 10. Christiane Le Goff, interview with Jacqueline Blay, for the broadcast program by Jacques Tibodot, “Portrait de Franco-Manitobains, Reflets d’un pays.” 11. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 August 1946, 5, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/103. 12. Hughes, Brigdens of Winnipeg, 12. 13. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 28 November 2003. 14. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 8 July 1963, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/7. 15. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 August 1964, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/12. 16. Suzanne Tremblay recalled that Pauline Boutal had asked her sister Françoise to sit for a number of poses because Françoise had slender hands with long fingers like Suzanne’s, and she had to complete the hands in the portrait. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 28 November 2003. 17. Léonie and Monique Guyot, interview with the author, 24 June 1997. 18. Ibid. 19. Ibid. 20. Ibid. 21. Lise Guyot, interview with the author, 26 July 2005. 22. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 November 1973, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/51. 23. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 31 May 1957, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/107. 24. Ibid.

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25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Ibid. Ibid. Tim Le Goff, e-mail to the author, 8 May 2002. Ibid. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 July 1972, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/46. William Ashby McCloy, “Manitoba Society of Artists, Twenty-Ninth Annual Exhibition,” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 February 1954, 6. 31. “In Disagreement With Mr. McCloy,” Your Opinions, Winnipeg Tribune, 27 February 1954, 7. 32. “They’ve Selected More Abstracts Than Usual,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 March 1957, 8. 33. “Here are black and white reproductions of two of the paintings…,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 1958, 3.

Chapter 14: Le Cercle Molière and the Francophone Community 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

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Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 30 July 1967, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/21. Ibid. “Oblate Sisters are Artists,” n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/88. Léo Rémillard, speech, “Témoignage à Mme Pauline Boutal, 50e anniversaire du Cercle Molière [Testimonial to Madame Pauline Boutal, 50th anniversary of Le Cercle Molière],” 25 April 1975, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/63. Margaret Piasecki, interview with the author, 26 January 2004. Ms. Piasecki had danced in performances of The Rose and The Ring, Beauty and the Beast, and Visages. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 August 1972, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/47. Louise Warwick, interview with the author, August 1997. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 March 1963, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/7. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 19 February 1964, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/10. Vincent van Gogh, Paintings-Drawings, exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 19 December 1960 to 31 January 1961. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 April 1963, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/7. Suzanne Doyle, interview with the author, 15 April 2002. Hubert Garnier sculpted the monument located on Provencher Boulevard in St. Boniface in honour of the Belgian soldiers who were killed in the First World War, as well as the monument to Provencher in the cathedral cemetery, from a drawing by Pauline Boutal. Suzanne Doyle, interview with the author, 15 April 2002. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 11 April 1963, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/7. Letter from Donatien Frémont, Verdun, 3 April 1958, 1–2. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/100. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 13 November 2004. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 17 June 1966, 6, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/18. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 23 July 1964, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/11. Léonie and Monique Guyot, interview with the author, 24 June 1997. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 30 July 1967, 1–2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/21. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 21 March 1977, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/52. “Molière’s Tour Becomes Course in Dramatic Art,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 April 1959, 8. Léonie and Monique Guyot, interview with the author, 24 June 1997. Ibid. Marthe Benoist, “Sans elle, le Cercle Molière n’existerait pas [Without her, Le Cercle Molière would not exist],” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 18. Régine Marsh, interview with the author, Ottawa, 24 February 2004. Ibid.

29. Robert Trudel, “J’ai beaucoup appris d’elle [I learned a lot from her],” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 19. 30. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 10 February 2004. 31. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 10 January 1977, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/52. 32. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 29 May 1975, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/37. 33. Ann Henry, “Moliere Players Join English for Festival, Profile: Madame Pauline Boutal,” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 November 1961, 28. 34. Léonie and Monique Guyot, interview with the author, 24 June 1997. 35. Ibid. 36. Roland Mahé, interview with the author, June 1997. 37. Ibid. 38. Régine Marsh, interview with the author, Ottawa, 24 February 2004. 39. Francis Fontaine, interview with the author, 1 June 1997. 40. Léonie and Monique Guyot, interview with the author, 24 June 1997. 41. Letter from Gabrielle Roy to Pauline Boutal, Port Daniel, 21 June 1951, 2. 42. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 21 February 1962, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/4. 43. Speech delivered by Pauline Boutal for the inauguration of the Salle Pauline-Boutal at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 25 April 1975, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. 44. Boutal, “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque,” 231–32. 45. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 8 February 1981, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/61. 46. Roland Mahé, “Son travail est toujours là [Her work is still with us],” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 19. 47. Letter to Gratia Fortin, 31 August 1977, 3–4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67. 48. Roland Mahé, interview with the author, June 1997. 49. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 22 April 1969, 4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/27. 50. Roland Mahé, interview with the author, June 1997. 51. Speech delivered by Pauline Boutal for the inauguration of the Salle Pauline-Boutal at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 25 April 1975, 2. 52. Letter to Gratia Fortin, 31 August 1977, 3–4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67. 53. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 8 February 1981, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/61. 54. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 February 1974, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/33. 55. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 24 November 1966, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/19. 56. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 2 February 1967, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/20. 57. Ibid.

Chapter 15: Painting—What She Loved Best 1. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 29 January 1965, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/14. 2. “The work was praised for its composition and color treatment by J.R. Ostiguy of the National Gallery,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 January 1965, 14. 3. “Clement Greenberg’s View of Art on the Prairies: Painting and Sculpture in Prairie Canada Today,” Canadian Art 20, no. 2 (1963): 100. 4. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. 5. Letter to Gratia Fortin, 9 December 1965, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67. 6. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 January 1966, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/17. 7. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 2 August 1971, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/43. 8. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 7 December 1971, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/44. 9. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 16 November 1971, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/44. 10. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 21 May 1969, 2–3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/27. 11. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 7 May 1963, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1574/7. 12. Letter to Gratia Fortin, 4 January 1971, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67.

215

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Letter to Gratia Fortin, 8 June 1975, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 21 May 1969, 2–3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/27. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 28 July 1974, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/34. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 June 1972, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/46. Louise Warwick, interview with the author, 13 August 1997. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 13 October 1980, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 11 May 1980, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 4 January 1972, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/45. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 28 January 1970, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/30. Letter to Margot Gagnon, 19 September 1965, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/102. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. Letter to Margot Gagnon, 19 September 1965, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/578/102. Boutal, interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 2 November 1980, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 February 1974, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/33. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 14 January 1970, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1576/30. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 26 February 1974, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/33. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 20 January 1965, 6, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/14.

Chapter 16: A Highly Respected Painter 1. Bernard Mulaire, “Hommage à Madame Boutal [Tribute to Madame Boutal],” St. Boniface Courier, 30 January 1974, 6. 2. Timothy Ray, “The Manisphere Jury Art Show,” Arts Manitoba 1, nos. 3–4 (Winter 1978): 63–65. 3. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 19 September 1977, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/54. 4. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 11 July 1977, 1. ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/53. 5. “Hauts dignitaires à l’ouverture des bibliothèques de St-Boniface [Dignitaries attend the opening of the St. Boniface libraries],” La Liberté, 1 December 1961, 5. 6. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 14 March 1967, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1575/20. 7. Marthe Benoist, “Madame Pauline Boutal,” article, n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/132. 8. John W. Graham, “French Milestone, A Critique,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 1974, 35. 9. Mulaire, “Hommage à Madame Boutal,” 6. 10. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 25 January 1974, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/33. 11. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 3 February 1974, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/33. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid. 14. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 12 September 1972, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/47. 15. Ibid. 16. Léo Rémillard, speech, “Témoignage à Madame Pauline Boutal, 50e anniversaire du Cercle Molière [Testimonial to Madame Pauline Boutal, 50th Anniversary of Le Cercle Molière],” 25 April 1975, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/63. 17. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 3 February 1982, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/62. 18. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 28 January 1975, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/36. 19. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 15 November 1976, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1577/41. 20. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 27 October 1980, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60.

216

Chapter 17: The Brushes at Rest 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

24.

Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 27 October 1980, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 2 November 1980, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 6 March 1978, 2–3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/55. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 29 September 1980, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Ibid. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 21 July 1980, 2–3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/60. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 1 February 1981, 1, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/61. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 17 March 2004. Letter to Louise Warwick, 12 September 1981, 4, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to Louise Warwick, 24 January 1983, 4, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 3 January 1982, 1–2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/62. Suzanne Tremblay, interview with the author, Montreal, 17 March 2004. Boutal in “Cette paroisse ‘pas comme les autres’—Souvenirs de Madame Pauline Boutal,” Ami du Foyer 56, no. 7 (October 1961): 5. Letter to Louise Warwick, 2 November 1982, 1, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to Louise Warwick, 24 January 1983, 2, Coll. L. Warwick. Letter to Louise Warwick, 2 November 1982, 2, Coll. L. Warwick. Interview with Suzanne Tremblay, Montreal, May 2002. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 3 February 1982, 2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/62. Letter to Louise Warwick, 24 January 1983, 1, Coll. L. Warwick. “Mes chers élèves [My dear pupils]” [Topic: St. Boniface 1909], talk given at École Taché, St. Boniface, n.d. 1974, 2, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/119. Roland Mahé, interview with the author, 26 January 2007. Letter to Gratia Fortin, 2 October 1973, 1–2, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/67. Laurent Gimenez, “Le Manitoba de Madame Boutal, 40 toiles et dessins exposés au CCFM [Madame Boutal’s Manitoba, 40 canvases and drawings on display at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain],” La Liberté, 3 to 9 April 1992, 11. Letter to Suzanne Tremblay, 18 July 1972, 3–4, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1578/46.

Conclusion 1. “Clement Greenberg’s View of Art on the Prairies: Painting and Sculpture in Prairie Canada Today,” Canadian Art 20, no. 2 (1963): 100. 2. Alison Gillmor, “Quebec’s Group of Seven, Remembering the Canadian art collective Beaver Hall Group,” CBC, Arts and Entertainment, 9 January 2006, http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/beaverhall.html. 3. Swystun, “Poète des couleurs, Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre,” 8–9.

217

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Published Writing by Pauline Boutal “Le théâtre à la Radio,” Chante-Clair, March 1947, 8. “Cette paroisse ‘pas comme les autres’ – Souvenirs de Mme Pauline Boutal,” Ami du Foyer, (Vol. 56) 7 October 1961, 5–9. “Madame Pauline Boutal raconte ses souvenirs d’enfance à Saint-Laurent,” In Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien, by Donatien Frémont, 15–19. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980. “Pauline Boutal, Le théâtre laïque à Saint-Boniface et à Winnipeg, 1909–1929, Le Cercle Molière, 1925–1974,” by Pauline Boutal, 205–226. In Chapeau bas: réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français, Part 2. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1985.

Unpublished Writing by Pauline Boutal, Talks, Addresses, and Speeches Address upon receiving an honorary doctorate from the Collège universitaire de SaintBoniface at the University of Manitoba Convocation, 30 May 1978, 4 pp., Coll. L. Guyot. “Autour d’un roman—fiction et réalité,” n.d., 14 pp., Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface (ASHSB), Fonds Pauline Boutal (FPB), 0023/579/122. “C’est avec joie que j’ai accepté l’invitation de notre président, M. le Docteur Trudel” [Topic, report on the London Drama Festival (Ontario)], n.d., 13 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. “Comme dans tous les pays, la vie au Canada…” [Topic, art history in Canada], n.d., 15 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. Diary, Paris, 1948–1949, ASHSB, Fonds Suzanne Tremblay (FST), 0548/1579/64. Datebook, 1955. ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/95. “Depuis mon enfance et bien avant d’aller à l’école…” [Topic, Artistic history of Pauline Boutal], n.d., 8 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. “Et nous voici maintenant à l’année 1907…,” [Topic, Sale and exhibition by the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association], n.d., 4 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/119. “Interview Madame Pauline Boutal” [Topic, autobiographical notes], n.d., 10 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. “Le Cercle Molière dont la fondation remonte à 1925….” n.d., 4 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. “Le voyage en mer fut long et très pénible, 14 jours!” [Topic, Journey to immigrate to Canada], n.d., 15 p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. “Madame, Vous semblez avoir fouillé mon passé…,” [Topic, The Le Goff family’s arrival in St. Laurent]. n.d., 15 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120.

218

“Mes chers élèves…,” [Topic, St. Boniface 1909], Talk given at École Taché, St. Boniface. n.d. 1974, 11 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/119. “Monsieur le Président, chers amis…,” [Topic, Stay at the Cape Cod School of Art], n.d., 16 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. “Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen…,” [Topic, grant funding for the arts in Canada], n.d., 16 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. “Paris, Ville du Monde!” [Topic, history, role and influence of Paris], n.d., 6 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. “Pauline’s father a church decorator…,” [Topic, autobiographical notes], n.d., 4 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. “Pauline Boutal, née Le Goff ” [Topic, Autobiographical notes], n.d., 3 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/87. “Pauline Boutal” [Topic, autobiographical notes], 1 May 1963, 4 pp., Winnipeg Art Gallery Archives, Artist’s File, Boutal, Pauline Le Goff, 1894-1992. “Quelques aspects de l’art canadien,” n.d., 11 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. “Regards sur les arts français en Amérique du nord,” Talk given at CKSB. 29 February 1950, 7 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121. “Saint-Laurent,” n.d., 2 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/120. “Saint-Norbert, October 51,” English text [Topic, studies in Paris], October 1951, 15 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/121 Speech delivered at the opening ceremonies of the Salle Pauline-Boutal, Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 25 April 1975, 6 p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. Talk given at the Alliance Française [Topic, fine arts studies in Paris], 28 November 1949, 14 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122. “The Evolution of French Language Theatre in Manitoba,” n.d., 12 pp., Écrits (discours, causeries, etc.) de Boutal, File 122. “Un dimanche…,” [Topic, The Le Goff family’s embarcation, ocean crossing and the beginning of their stay in St. Laurent], n.d., 1 p., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/87. “Une phrase toute prête…,” Bilingual text [Topic, support and grants for the arts in Canada], n.d., 13 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/122.

Exhibition Catalogues Benoist, Marthe. Madame Pauline Boutal. St. Boniface: Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 1974. Brémault, Lise, Roger LaFrenière, and Roland Mahé. Paysages et Bâtiments, 1947 à 1978. St. Boniface: Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 1982. Bovey, Patricia, E., and Ann Davis. Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956): The Developement of an Artist. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978–1979. Bovey, Patricia, E. Art in Winnipeg, 1955 to 1959. Winnipeg: Gallery One One One, School of Art, University of Manitoba, 1982. ———. The Brigden Collection. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1974. Davis, Ann. Images of Woman. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1975–76. Dillow, Nancy E. The Forgotten Innovator, Alexander J. Musgrove. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1986. Hughes, Mary Jo. Brigdens of Winnipeg. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2001. Léveillé, J. Roger. rBr. Winnipeg: Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 2005. Mulaire, Bernard. Tracer un espace en arts visuels: vers la création d’une galerie d’art à SaintBoniface 1965–1975. St. Boniface: Salon Empire, Centre du patrimoine, 2002. Préfontaine, Denise. Le Manitoba, ombres et lumières. St. Boniface: Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 1992.

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Books Baker, Marilyn. The Winnipeg School of Art, The Early Years. Winnipeg, Gallery One One One, School of Art, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1998. Benoist, Marius, Martial Caron, Pauline Boutal and Roland Mahé. Chapeau bas: réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français, Deuxiéme partie. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1985. Berry, Virginia. A Boundless Horizon—Visual Records of Exploration and Settlement in the Manitoba Region, 1624–1874. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1983. ———. Vistas of Promise, Manitoba 1874–1919. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987. Bryson, Norman. Looking at the Overlooked Four Essays on Still Life Painting. London: Reaktion Books, 1990. De Roussan, Jacques. Philip Surrey. Montreal: Lidec Inc., 1968. Dorge, Lionel. Le Manitoba, reflets d’un passé. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1976. Dubé, Jean-Pierre (text), Lynne Champagne (research), and Irène Mahé (publishing). Le Cercle Molière, 75e anniversaire. St. Boniface: Le Cercle Molière, 2001. Eckhardt, Ferdinand. 150 Years of Art in Manitoba—Struggling for a Visual Civilization. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1970. Frémont, Donatien. Les Français dans l’Ouest canadien. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980. Le Cercle Molière, Cinquantième anniversaire. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1975. Nicholson, Edward J. Brigdens Limited, 1871–1971, The First One Hundred Years. Toronto: Brigdens Limited, 1970. Ricard, François. Gabrielle Roy, Une vie. Montreal: Éditions du Boréal, 1996. Roy, Gabrielle, Marius Benoist, Armand LaFlèche, Alexandre LaRivière, Maurice Prud’homme, and Jean-Joseph Trudel. Chapeau bas: réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français, Première Partie. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980. Saint-Pierre, Annette. Le rideau se lève au Manitoba. St. Boniface: Les Éditions des Plaines, 1980. Tippett, Maria. By a Lady, Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women. Toronto: Viking, 1992. Yates, Sarah. The Manitoba Society of Artists, A History. Winnipeg: Manitoba Society of Artists, 1992.

Articles and Various Writings “150 ans de peinture au Manitoba, une Franco-Manitobaine expose 4 de ses œuvres.” La Liberté, 29 July 1970, 13. “À l’honneur, Pauline Boutal.” La Liberté, 23 January 1978, 10. “A. Boutal, St. Boniface Printer.” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 June 1941, 2. “Art Exhibition, Three Canadian artists.” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 September 1950, 20. “Arthur Boutal.” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 August 1938, 3. “Au nom du Gouvernement français.” La Liberté, 1 November 1946, 2. Ayre, Robert, “Manitoba Shows its Art.” n.d., AM, P482-4, The Manitoba Society of Artists Newspaper Clippings, 1938–1955. “Ballet Fantasy.” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 December 1949, 13. Benoist, Marthe. “Madame Pauline Boutal.” n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/579/132. ———.“Sans elle, le Cercle Molière n’existerait pas.” La Liberté, 14 May 1992, 18–19. Bocquel, Bernard. “Une vie qui a pour nom ‘les arts.’” La Liberté, 29 March 1979, 7. Boutal, Arthur. “Monsieur le Président, Mesdames, Messieurs” [Topic, Travelling in France], Speech. n.d., 25 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/94.

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———. “Monsieur le Président, Mesdames, Messieurs” [Topic, report on Le Cercle Molière’s activities]. Speech, n.d., 10 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/94. ———. “Théâtre de verdure.” Speech, n.d., 9 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/94. ———. “Tournée de ‘La Liberté.’” Speech, n.d., 5 pp., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/94. “Boutal reçoit l’Ordre des francophones d’Amérique.” La Liberté, 9 July 1981, 4. “Boutal was ‘the soul of Le Cercle Molière.’” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 May 1992, 28. Brehl, John. “Centennial Story, Canada’s Family Store.” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 February 1969, 51. Breuning, M. “Exhibition, Montross Gallery.” Magazine of Art 32 (March 1939): 182–183. “Cette photo montre une peinture de Mme Pauline Boutal…” La Liberté, 22 January 1965, 3. “Clement Greenberg’s View of Art on the Prairies, Painting and Sculpture in Prairie Canada Today.” Canadian Art 20, no. 2 (1963): 90–107. “Commission Portrait Of Ex-Mayor.” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 1961, 2. Coté, Luc. “Modernité et identité: la chronique féminine dans le journal.” La Liberté, 1915–1930, Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’Ouest 10, no. 1 (1998): 51–90. “Cours de dessin de l’école Marion 1963–64.” La Liberté, 20 September 1963, 5. Couture, Roland. “Une grande dame.” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 19. Davis, Angela. “The Hothouse of Canadian Art, a ‘Golden Age’ at Brigden’s [sic].” The Beaver 68, no. 1 (February-March 1988): 37–47. De Saint-Éloi, Thérèse. “L’année bisextile [sic].” La Liberté, 4 March 1924, 5. Des Bois, Françoise. “Ce jour baisse, encore quelques minutes…” La Liberté, 15 November 1916, 2. Des Érables, Jacqueline [Alice Raymond]. “La féministe.” La Liberté, 20 May 1924, 5. ———. “Pour qui voter?” La Liberté, 4 May 1920, 3. “Deux Françaises décorées.” La Liberté, 15 March 1939, 1. “Director Boutal to receive award.” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 May 1971, 5–7. Dorge, Claude. “Theatre Honors Pauline Boutal.” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 April 1975, 35. “Double in oils: Speaker N.V. Bachynsky…” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 September 1957, 29. “Du nouveau au Centre culturel.” La Liberté, 4 February 1982, 1. “Duckworth among seven citizens to be honored by U of M.” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 May 1978, 10. Duguay, Louise, “Boutal, Pauline.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Historical Foundation of Canada, 2004, French translated to English: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia. com/fr/article/boutal-pauline/. ———.“Pauline Boutal: Illustratrice et artiste peintre,” Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’Ouest 10, no. 1 (1998): 127–165. ———. “De la commande à la livraison. Pauline Boutal, illustratrice de mode pour le catalogue Eaton, de 1918 à 1941.” Developed for the virtual exhibition Facile, Économique et Sans Risque. Canadian Postal Museum, Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2002. http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/catalog/ cat2503e.shtml. “Exposition de peinture à l’école Marion.” La Liberté, 9 June 1961, 5. “Exposition gala des œuvres de Pauline Boutal.” La Liberté, 14 January 1982, 3. “Fields of France Were Beautiful This Spring: Mrs. Arthur Boutal.” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 July 1949, 10. François, Oncle. “Le sort de trente dessins entre les mains des juges.” La Liberté, 15 November 1957, 12. Frémont, Donatien. “À nos Amis de la Campagne.” L’écho littéraire et artistique, supplement in La Liberté. n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/5. Freynet, Lucile. “Souvenirs de Mme P. Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (to be cont’d).” Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 22 March 1963, 3.

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———. “Souvenirs de Mme P. Boutal, Quand les comédiens parcouraient la province pour aider le journal (cont’d).” Special to La Liberté et le Patriote, 29 March 1963, 3. “Funérailles de M. Arthur Boutal.” La Liberté, 23 June 1941, 4. Gardner, David. “Festival national d’art dramatique.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Historica Foundation of Canada, 2007. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com /index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=F1ARTF0002346. Gertrude [Emma Royal]. “La mère canadienne-française du Manitoba…” La Liberté, 23 May 1917, 2. ———. “Féminisme.” La Liberté, 26 September 1922, 3. Gibbons, Lillian. “An Album of Winnipeg Women.” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 March 1941, 13. ———. “‘What Is Art’ Show Popular Attraction.” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 December 1951, 30. ———. “Flood Drama Shown In New Paintings, Manitoba Society Opens Exhibit.” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 March 1951, 3. ———. “Three City Artists Explain, Show Works.” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 September 1950, 20. Gillmor, Alison. “Quebec’s Group of Seven, Remembering the Canadian art collective Beaver Hall Group.” CBC, “Art & Entertainment,” 9 January 2006. Gimenez, Laurent. “Le Manitoba de Madame Boutal, 40 toiles et dessins exposés au CCFM.” La Liberté, 3 to 9 April 1992, 11–12. ———. “Des tableaux aux quatre vents.” La Liberté, 3 to 9 April 1992, 11. ———. “Le Cercle Molière, le théâtre à tout faire.” Manitoba Calling, Fall 2002, 22–23. ———. “Pauline Boutal: une exposition permanente.” La Liberté, 17 to 23 April 1992, 13. “Golden Boy Awards Made.” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 May 1962, 21. Goodman, Helen. “America’s Great Women Illustrators, 1850–1950.” Arts Magazine 60 (September 1985): 16. ———. “Women Illustrators of the Golden Age of American Illustration.” Women’s Art Journal 8 (Spring & Summer 1987): 13–22. Graham, John W. “French Milestone, A Critique.” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 1974, 35. “Hauts dignitaires à l’ouverture des bibliothèques de St-Boniface.” La Liberté, 1 December 1961, 5. Hébert, Monique. “189[4]–1992 Pauline Boutal, Une vie consacrée à l’art.” Femmes d’action: revue d’information et de réflexion des femmes francophones 22, no. 1 (1992): 8–10. Henry, Ann. “Molière Players Join English for Festival, Profile: Madame Pauline Boutal.” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 November 1961, 28. “Here are black and white reproductions of two of the paintings…” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 1958, 3. “Here are some of the paintings by St-Boniface school children.” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 May 1960, 6. “Here is a picture of the newest portrait.” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 September 1957, 3. Hretzay, Andrew, and Maurice Asselin. “Pauline Boutal, A Lady of the French Culture.” Unpublished article, Winnipeg, 1974, 1–11, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/87. “Île St. Louis, Paris.” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 March 1950, 19. “In Disagreement With Mr. McCloy.” Your Opinions, Winnipeg Tribune, 27 February 1954, 7. Jewell, Edward Alden. “Water Color Club Holds 48th Show, George Elmer Browne’s Show.” New York Times, 16 February 1937, 18. Johnson, Sandra. “Art & Artists.” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1971, 3. Kamienski, Jan. “Art growth in west depended on painter’s origins.” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 June 1967, 13. “La Femme au Foyer et dans le Monde, En marge du Festival d’art dramatique.” Le Devoir, 15 May 1961, 12. “La foudre rappelle à la mémoire les souvenirs centenaires de Saint-Laurent.” Ami du Foyer, September 1961, 5–7.

222

“La tournée de La Liberté à La Broquerie et à Lorette.” La Liberté, n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/73. “La tournée de La Liberté fait de brillants débuts à St-Malo et à St-Eustache.” La Liberté, n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/73. “Le Cercle Molière de St-Boniface a mérité cinq des sept prix…” La Liberté, 16 March 1962, 1. “Le Cercle Molière jouera sur la scène du ‘Walker’ le 15 février prochain.” n.d. [1926], ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/9. “Le Cercle Molière offre un banquet à M. et Mme Boutal.” La Liberté, 21 September 1938, 2. Lesieur, Jean. “Au Centre culturel: une véritable salle d’exposition.” La Liberté, 3 September 1975, 4. Levine, Allan. “Chicago of the North, Booming Winnipeg Becomes a Metropolis.” In Manitoba 125: A History, Gateway to the West, Vol. 2, edited by Gregg Shilliday, 66–91. Winnipeg: Great Plains Publications, 1994. “M. Arthur Boutal est décédé.” La Liberté, 16 June 1941, 1. “M. Arthur Boutal.” La Liberté, 24 August 1938, 4. “M. Grein est ravi du magnifique succès de la ‘soirée française.’” Le Droit, 26 April 1954, 12–13. Magnus, Carmen-Litta. “Pauline Boutal, An Actress and an Artist.” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 January 1971, 6. Mahé, Irène. “Une interview—Y a-t-il place pour une galerie d’art à St-Boniface.” La Liberté, 25 November 1970, 16. Mahé, Roland. “Son travail est toujours là.” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 19. Maude, Denise. “Honneur bien mérité.” La Liberté, 18 February 1982, 19. McCabe, Evelyn. “Catalogue of Canadians.” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 March 1954, 33. McCloy, William Ashby. “Manitoba Society of Artists, Twenty-Ninth Annual Exhibition.” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 February 1954, 6. McCubbin, Doris. “Madame Boutal.” Chatelaine, February 1954, 26. “Michener names Manitobans to Order of Canada roles.” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 June 1973, 57. Minutes Book. Archives of Manitoba (AM), Manitoba Society of Artists Collection (FMSA), the Manitoba Society of Artists 1936–1952, P478/2. “Molière’s Tour Becomes Course in Dramatic Art.” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 April 1959, 8. Monnin, Alfred. “Les gens l’écoutaient.” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 19. Morriss, Frank. “Amusing Amateur Movie.” n.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/15. ———. “Woman of the Week, Behind the Scenes.” n.d. [1950], ASHSB, FPB, 0023/575/15. “Mrs. Arthur Boutal Receives Medal from French Government.” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 November 1946, 9. Mulaire, Bernard. “Hommage à Madame Boutal.” Saint-Boniface Courier, 30 January 1974, 6. ———. “Madame Pauline Boutal” [Topic: answers to a biographical questionnaire presented by Bernard Mulaire]. 26 March 1980, 12, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/ 578/100. ———. “1965 à 1975, dix années d’effervescence parmi les artistes de Saint-Boniface.” Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’Ouest 15, no. 2 (2003): 123–161. Mulaire, Bernard, and David Karel. “Boutal, Pauline (née Le Goff).” In Dictionnaire des artistes de langue française en Amérique du nord, by David Karel. Sainte-Foy: Presses de l’Université Laval, 1992. Nemy, Enid. “Canada’s Relief for France Is Active Concern.” Vancouver Daily Province, 13 April 1946, ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/88. “Oblate Sisters are Artists.” N.d., ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/88. “Painting of mayor unveiled.” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 July 1969, 25. Patton, Randolph. “Winnipeg Artists Advance in Their Skill and Vision.” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 February 1950, 79.

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“Pauline Boutal Designs Costumes for Rose and Ring.” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 December 1950, 12. “Pauline Boutal War Drawings.” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 June 1940, 5. “Pauline Boutal.” Canadian Library Association, Artist’s File, Art Gallery of Ontario Library, June 1947. “Pauline Le Goff Boutal.” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 May 1992, 47; 3 May 1992, 28. Phillips,Walter J. “Manitoba Artist Exhibit Proves Best of Series, Tenth Annual Show Maintains High Standard of Local Exhibitors.” n.d. [1936], AM, MSA 1936-1952, 478/2. ———. “Art in Manitoba.” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 April 1938, 7. “Plaque awarded, Madame Pauline Boutal.” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 May 1950, 3. Ray, Timothy. “The Manisphere Jury Art Show.” Arts Manitoba 1, nos. 3-4 (Winter 1978): 63–65. Rémillard, Léo. “Elle cherchait toujours la perfection.” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 18. ———. “Témoignage à Mme Pauline Boutal, 50e anniversaire du Cercle Molière.” 25 April 1975, 3, ASHSB, FST, 0548/1579/63. Roy, Camille. “Que Penser du Vote des Femmes?” La Liberté, 18 April 1917, 1. Roy, Gabrielle. “Le Cercle Molière, porte ouverte.” In Chapeau bas, Réminiscences de la vie théâtrale et musicale du Manitoba français, Première partie. St. Boniface: Les Éditions du Blé, 1980. “Rue des Moutons, Bergerac.” La Liberté, 3 December 1969, 1. “Rue St. Jacques, Paris.” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 1951, 17. Ruttan, Susan. “At 80, Madame Boutal still a working artist.” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 July 1976, 42. “Second Festival Français.” Le Nouvelliste, 11 May 1911, 1. Swystun, Giselle. “Pauline Boutal, artiste-peintre, Poète des couleurs.” La Liberté, 23 January 1974, 8–9. The Bill. April 1933. Published by The Winnipeg Little Theatre. Archives of the FitzGerald Study Centre (FSC), University of Manitoba. “The work was praised for its composition and color treatment by J.R. Ostiguy of the National Gallery.” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 January 1965, 14. “Theatre Here Was Popular From the Earliest Days.” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 February 1950, 92. “They’ve Selected More Abstracts Than Usual.” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 March 1957, 8. Thomas, A.V. “Arthur Boutal.” Winnipeg Tribune, 10 September 1938, 17. “Three Women Receive Order Of Canada.” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 June 1973, 14. Trudel, Robert. “J’ai beaucoup appris d’elle.” La Liberté, 8 to 14 May 1992, 19. Tully, Frances. “Now that Peace Has Come, Mrs. Arthur Boutal Tells Of War Work for France.” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 August 1945, 11. “Two Women Named Officier d’Academie By French Government.” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 March 1939, 8. “Une colonie bretonne à Saint-Laurent, Man.” Les Cloches de Saint-Boniface, March 1911, 64–66. Van Ingen Elarth, Wilhelmina. “Reply to Critics of Art Exhibit.” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 December 1951, 7. ———. “Milestone for the Manitoba Society.” n.d., AM, P482-4, The Manitoba Society of Artists, Newspaper Clippings 1938–1955. “Variety of Art At Local Show.” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 March 1957, 8. Virilio, Paul. “On ne regarde plus les étoiles, mais les écrans.” Interview, statements recorded by Pierre Boncenne. Le Monde de l’éducation 287 (December 2000): 12–16. V.L.L. “Stimulating Art.” N.d., AM, P 482-4, The Manitoba Society of Artists, Newspaper Clippings, 1938–1955.

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“WACOW Chooses Pauline Boutal for Annual Award.” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 May 1962, 19. “Wed St. Boniface Girl in France.” n.d. [1916], ASHSB, FPB, 0023/577/88. W.E.I. “Manitoba in Oils, Society of Artists Exhibition Opened in Aid of Red Cross.” n.d. [1942], AM, P482-4, The Manitoba Society of Artists, Newspaper Clippings, 1938–1955. “Winnipeg Art Club Exh., Distinct step in Wpg’s progress.” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 1915, 11. “Winnipeg Art Club, First spring exhibit.” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 May 1915, 5. “Winnipeg Artist Designs Children’s Ballet Costumes.” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 December 1950, 16. “Women’s Ad, Sales Club Honors Pauline Boutal.” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1962, 16.

Dissertations and Papers, Encyclopedias, and Dictionaries Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, Die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker, Vol. 13. Bordalejo-Braun. Munich, Leipzig: K.G. Saur, 1996. Bénézit, Emmanuel, and Jacques Busse, eds. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays, Vol. 4. France: Librairie Gründ, 1976. Davis, Angela E. “Business, Art and Labour: Brigden’s [sic] and the Growth of the Canadian Graphic Arts Industry, 1870–1950.” PhD diss., University of Manitoba, 1986. Duguay, Louise. “Pauline Le Goff Boutal, 1894–1992, Illustratrice et artiste peintre.” MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1999. Gardner, David. “Festival national d’art dramatique.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Historica Foundation of Canada, 2007. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=F1A RTF0002346. Karel, David. Dictionnaire des artistes de langue française en Amérique du nord. Published in collaboration with the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Sainte-Foy: Presses de l’Université Laval, 1992. MacDonald, Colin, S. A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, 5th edition. Ottawa: Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd., 1997. Morcos, Gamila, with the collaboration of Gilles Cadrin, Paul Dubé, and Laurent Godbout. Dictionnaire des artistes et des auteurs francophones de l’Ouest canadien. Sainte-Foy: Les Presses de l’Université de Laval, 1998. Petteys, Chris. Dictionary of Women Artists, An international Dictionary of Women Artists born before 1900. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1985.

Audio-Visual Sources Pauline Boutal, interview with Marge Bourgeois, 1 February 1972. Oral History Project, MMC, Tape No. 84 (120 mins) [audiocassette]. Pauline Boutal, “Gens de mon pays,” interview with Simon Boivin, 2 February 1972. ASHSB, FSRC, CKSB, Tape No. BS 50021 (31 mins) [audiocassette]. Christiane Le Goff, interview with Jacqueline Blay. Program produced by Jacques Tibodot. “Portrait de Franco-Manitobains, Reflets d’un pays.” Avec le temps, 1988, ASHSB, FSRC, CKSB, Tape No. BS50179 (53 mins, 36 secs) [audiocassette].

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Websites Association for Manitoba Archives http://nanna.lib.umanitoba.ca/atom/index.php/fonds-pauline-boutal. Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’Ouest http://sites.ustboniface.ca/cahiersfco/v10n1textes/101duguay.pdf. Canadian Museum of History http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/catalog/cat2503e.shtml. Canadian Women Artists History Initiative http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=167. Francophonies canadiennes Identités culturelles http://www.francoidentitaire.ca/ouest/texte/T1988.htm. Historica Canada http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pauline-boutal/. La Société historique de Saint-Boniface http://shsb.mb.ca/en/node/1198. Radio-Canada http://ici.radiocanada.ca/regions/manitoba/radio/Chroniques/ louiseduguaypaulineboutal_30460.shtml. The Manitoba Historical Society http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/boutal_pl.shtml.

Archive Collections Archives of Manitoba Virginia Berry Collection, P 5736/14 Pauline Boutal. Howard Engel Collection, P3462 f. 1–3 (Eaton’s catalogue index). Manitoba Society of Artists Collection, P478. Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface Fonds Pauline Boutal, 0023, c. 1906–1993. Fonds Centre culturel de Saint-Boniface, 0020. Fonds Cercle Molière, 0025, 1925 to the present. Fonds Bernard Mulaire, 0043, 1970–1980. Fonds Société Radio Canada Ltée CBWFT, 0118, 1960–2001. Fonds Société Radio-Canada Ltée CKSB, 0168, 1946–2006. Fonds Suzanne Tremblay, 0548, 1961–1983. Collection Louise Warwick, 0462. Service des archives de l’Université de Saint-Boniface Fonds Anna Leclerc, P016. University of Manitoba, Archives and Special Collections MSS24, Boutal, Pauline. Winnipeg Art Gallery Archives Brigden papers. Arnold O. Brigden Collection.

226

Photography Credits (Noted by figure number)

Isaac Applebaum, Toronto: 117, 121, 139, 152, 159, 188. Rob Barrow, Winnipeg: 54, 55, 92, 109, 130, 133, 142, 144, 150, 151, 190. Chatelaine, Paul Rockett: 192. Fotographik, Claude Lapointe, Montreal: 120. Garland Photography, Loveland, CO: 51, 52, 87, 118, 201. Guy L’Heureux, Montreal: 49, 95, 113, 116, 123, 156, 194. Ernest Mayer, St. Boniface: 1, 10, 15, 20, 36, 50, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 80, 86, 90, 93, 107, 112, 114, 126, 131, 135, 141, 158, 161,162, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 187, 189, 191,193, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 203, 204, 205, 208, 209, 211, 217, 223. David Morrish, Corner Brook, NL: 163. Bernard Mulaire, Montreal: 125. Musée de Saint-Boniface, Rob Barrow: 5, 145, 146, 147, 148, 202, 206. Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Jean-Guy Kerouac: 119. Site Photography, Vancouver: 149. Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Hubert Pantel: 218. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Ernest Mayer: 9, 60, 124, 127.

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Index

Index 150 Years of Art in Manitoba (exhibition), 6, 175 A Academic hall at Collège de Saint-Boniface, 126, 146 Académie Colarossi, 110 Académie de la Grande Chaumière (end-of-session exhibition), 120 Académie de la Grande Chaumière (Paris), 4, 107, 109, 110, 113, 114, 115, 117, 120 Académie Julian, 109 Academy Officer, 26, 78 Accueil franco-canadien, 120 Acquisitions récentes (exhibition), 7 Aiglon, L’, 62 Alexander, Louise, 30 Allan Line, 17 Alliance française du Manitoba, 116, 145, 146 Andrews, Stephen, 109, 120 Angoulême (Charente), 29, 31, 37, 41 Angoulême (high school), 31 Apple, Margot (née Hubicki), 132 Apple, Margot, see also Hubicki, Margot Arc-en-Ciel, bar, 109 Archbishop’s residence in Saint-Boniface, 25, 26, 164, 165, 167 Around Here: Historical Scenes of Manitoba (exhibition), 7 Art Gallery Association, 159 Art in Winnipeg 1955 to 1959 (exhibition), 6, 180 Association canadienne des éducateurs de langue française, 146 Association d’éducation des Canadiens français du Manitoba, 62 B Bachynsky, Nicholas Volodymir, 125, 126 Badigeon (pen name), 34, 35 Baie des Trépassés, 96 Barker, Granville, 66 Baudoux, Maurice (Bishop), 127 Baxter, Adeline, 30 Behrman, S. N., 95 Béliveau, Arthur (Bishop), 66, 127 Benoist, Marius, 62, 175

228

Benoist, Marthe, 151, 176 Bergerac, 122, 123, 169, 171 Bergerac, Protestant church, 169 Bergevin, Hector, 27 Bergman, Eric, 6, 48, 58, 65 Berlin (Germany), 58 Bernier, Joseph, 34 Bernier, Raymond, 62 Berriault, Norbert, 27 Bibliothèque de Saint-Boniface (library), 175 Bois-de-l’île-Bizard, 185 Boulet, Maurice, 71 Bourdelle, Antoine, 110 Boutal, Arthur, 4, 5, 25, 27, 29, 30, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 49, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 68, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 83, 85, 88, 90, 108, 148, 161, 163, 165, 188, 192 Boutal, Claire, 41, 73 Boutal, Jean, 54, 73, 75, 76, 77 Bovey, Patricia, 6 Brandtner, Fritz, 6, 48 Braque, Georges, 113, 115, 117 Brayer, Yves, 113 Brett, Newton, 58, 125, 140 Brigden, Arnold, 6, 50, 65 Brigden Collection, The (exhibition), 50 Brigdens (graphic arts firm), 3, 6, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 65, 66, 68, 88, 93, 98, 122, 131,132, 133, 191 Brigdens of Winnipeg (exhibition), 6 Browne, George Elmer, 4, 93, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101 Bruce, Robert, 146 Brun, René, 26, 27, 38 Bruns, T. H., 126 Bruyère, J. Léon, 66 Bulman Bros. (printer), 129 C Cabon, François, 11, 13 Cabon, Jeanne, 17, 25 Cabon, Louise, 13, 19 Cabon, Louise, see also Le Goff, Louise (née Cabon). Cabon, see also Workshop of Master Cabon. Café de la Coupole, 108 Cameron, Ann, 180 Canada’s Ambassador to France, 120 Canadian artists at the National Gallery (exhibition), 122 Canadian Drama Award, 5, 78, 131 Canadian Museum of Civilization, 7 Cape Cod (Massachusetts), 93, 94, 95, 96, 99, 102, 192 Cape School of Art, 4, 59, 93, 94, 105 Carbotte, Marcel, 120 Caron, Martial (Jesuit), 62 Carr, Emily, 137 Carrière, Louis, 13 Case, Charles, 27

229

Cassatt, Mary, 4 Castelein de la Lande, André, 62 Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface, 25, 26, 83, 105, 125, 149, 162, 163, 164, 187, 189 Centennial Hall (Winnipeg), 175 Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 6, 7, 175, 178, 179, 180, 187, 193 Centre du patrimoine à Saint-Boniface, 7, 191 Centre Taché, 186 Cercle Molière, Le, 3, 5, 7, 57, 62, 66, 68, 71, 75, 78, 79, 85, 86, 90, 107, 120, 131, 133, 135, 141, 145, 148, 149, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 161, 164, 168, 167, 178, 179, 180, 186, 191, 192, 194 Chafe, Susan, 193, 194 Chagall, Marc, 114, 116 Chatelaine (magazine), 154 Chevrier, Horace, 34 Chivers, Denise, 159 City hall (Saint-Boniface), 25, 126 Clerics of Saint Viator (religious congregation), 88, 129 Colarossi Studio, 113 Collège de Saint-Boniface, 25, 38, 62, 69, 88, 126, 145, 146, 161, 164 Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, 146, 179, 193 Comédie-Française, 108 Comfort, Charles, 6, 30, 48, 65 Concarneau (Finistère, Brittany), 96 Consulate of France, 90, 134 Cook, Barbara, 140 Corre, Jean, 13 Coutant, Madame, 108 Couvent des Sœurs Grises, 4, 25, 26, 159, 163, 164, 165, 169, 187 Coz, Fanch, 22 Cullen, Maurice, 137 Cyrano de Bergerac (play), 66, 67 D Daudet, Alphonse, 62 Davis, Angela, 6 Davis, Ann, 153 De Grasse (ocean liner), 122 de la Roche Aymon, Viscount, 26 de Largillière, Nicolas, 117 de Sannes, 27 Degas, Edgar, 4 Deniset, children, 78 Desaulniers, Maxime, 179 Desjardins, Laurent, 179 Despiau, Charles, 110 Doll, family, 21 Dominion Drama Festival, 5, 50, 78, 79, 107, 131, 153, 154 Douarnenez (Finistère, Brittany), 96 du Barry, Madame, 85 Duguay, Rodolphe, 110 Dunrea (Manitoba), 71

230

E Eaton, store, 45, 48, 78, 132, 152 Eaton’s Catalogue, 3, 6, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 78, 191 Eckardt, Ferdinand, 177 École Marion (school), 146 École supérieure d’art dramatique à Strasbourg (France), 155 Embassy of France, Ottawa, 54 En paroles et en gestes: portraits de femmes du Manitoba français (exhibition), 7 Eyden, Jean, 140 F Fauchois, René, 85 Fawcett, George, 30 Fire Hall (Dumoulin Street), 165 FitzGerald, Lionel LeMoine, 50, 58, 59, 65 Flowers: From the WAG Collection (exhibition), 7, 180 Forest, family, 178 Forrester, Maureen, 177 Fort Alexandre (Manitoba) (seminary chapel), 146 Fort Alexandre (Manitoba) (church), 129 Fortin, Gratia, 156, 163, 172, 175 Fortin, Thérèse, 172 Foster, Harold, 30 Fournier, Marie, 175, 179 Franciscan nuns, 22 Frank & Seder (department store), 132 Frémont, Donatien, 8, 147 Friesen, Victor, 125, 159 Friesz, Othon, 107, 113, 117 G Gadbois, Denyse, 109 Gagnon, Louis-Philippe, 62, 161 Gagnon, Margot, 74, 161 Gallery of the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, 193 Gallery One One One, University of Manitoba, 6, 180 Garnier, Hubert, 147 Garnier, Suzanne, 147 Gauloise, La (association), 26, 38, 62 Gavault, Paul, 38 Gillmor, Alison, 192 Glasgow School of Art, 53 Gourbil, Félix, 4, 105 Graham, John W., 176 Greenberg, Clement, 3, 159, 175, 192 Groll, Albert, 95 Group of Seven, The, 53, 58 Guay, Joseph-Philippe, 126, 179 Guénette, Armand, 149 Guyot, family, 135, 136, 178 Guyot, Gilles, 149, 151 Guyot, Léonie, 136, 151, 154, 155, 194

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Guyot, Lise, 135, 136 Guyot, Monique, 4, 86, 133, 134, 135, 136, 149, 151, 154, 155, 194 H Hawkins, Robert, 125 Hawthorne, Charles, 100 Heinz, Charles, 95 Henaf, Jean-Louis, 13 Henry, Ann, 153 Hensche, Henry, 4, 101 Hirsch, John, 146 Hochelaga (bank), 25 Honorary Doctorate, University of Manitoba, 5, 175, 179 Hospice Taché, 189 Hotel Marlborough, 78 Hôtel Mondor, 165, 168 Houde, Élisa, 78 Hubicki, Margot, 130, 186 Hubicki, Margot, see also Apple, Margot Hubicki, Suzanne (née Le Goff), 73, 130, 131, 132, 168, 186 Hubicki, Suzanne, see also Le Goff, Suzanne. Hubicki, Taras, 73, 132 Hudson’s Bay Company (calendar), 30, 32, 129 Hughes, Daisy Marguerite, 98, 100 I, J, K Île de la Cité (Paris), 118 Île Saint-Louis (Paris), 4, 107, 118, 120, 122, 140 Images of Woman (exhibition), 6, 153, 175 International Women’s Year (1975), 153, 175 Into the Collection (exhibition), 7 Johnston, Franz, 53 Jones, Ligie, 50 Kamienski, Jan, 125 Karel, David, 7 Kennedy, Charles, 74 Kennedy, John, 4, 74, 75, 105, 193 Kennedy, Louise (Zizi), 55, 58, 74, 75, 133, 186 Kennedy, Marie (née Le Goff), 74, 132, 133, 168 Kennedy, Marie, see also Le Goff, Marie. Kikoïne, Michel, 116 Kuch, Peter, 177 L Lac des Deux-Montagnes, 185 LaFlèche, Armand, 145, 148 LaFlèche, Georges, 85 Laitière, La [The Milkmaid](painting by Vermeer), 54 Lake Manitoba, 18, 19 Lamonde, Rosette, 146 Lang, Byllee Fay, 58 Langevin, Adélard, 146

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Lanhouarneau (Brittany), 13, 15, 22, 172 LaRivière, Alphonse (Ti-Phonse), 149 La Salle River, 53, 55 Laurencin, Marie, 117 Lavoie, Thérèse, 71 Lavoie, Virginie, 71 Le Goff, Antoine, 17, 20, 22, 26, 38, 71, 105, 137 Le Goff, Christiane (Coussie), 43, 71, 73, 74, 75, 90, 130, 131, 132, 156, 165, 168, 181, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188 Le Goff, family, 3, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 37, 38, 68, 116, 131, 161, 163, 192 Le Goff, Jean-François, 5, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 39, 59, 130, 172 Le Goff, Jean-Pierre, 130, 131, 185 Le Goff, Louise (née Cabon), 13, 19, 26, 71, 73, 90, 130, 131 Le Goff, Marcel, 20, 23, 26, 38, 71, 85, 102, 105, 185 Le Goff, Marie, 17, 20, 22, 26, 38, 71, 74, 132, 168 Le Goff, Marie, see also Kennedy, Marie (née Le Goff). Le Goff, Suzanne, 17, 23, 25, 26, 38, 71, 73, 130, 132, 168 Le Goff, Suzanne, see also Hubicki, Suzanne (née Le Goff). Le Goff, Tim, 137, 193 Le Manitoba: ombres et lumières (exhibition), 6, 187 Leclerc, Anna, 57 Lemieux, Jean-Paul, 110 Lesneven (college), 15 Lesneven (market), 79, 80 Léveillé, Brunelle, 146 Léveillé, family, 178 Lévesque (house), see Maison Taillefer Lévesque. Lévesque, P’tit Paul, 149, 161 Lévesque, René, 180 Lhote, André, 4, 107, 109, 117 Liberté, La (newspaper), 39, 43, 61, 63, 66, 68, 78, 187 Librairie Keroack, 33, 161 Locronan, church of, 96 London (England), 159, 192 Long, Victor, 125 Louise du Sacré-Cœur (Sister), 146 M M. (Monsieur) Michel, see Kikoïne, Michel. MacAvoy, Edouard, 113 MacGregor, James, 120, 140 MacLean, George Campbell, 126 Madrassi, Ludovic Lucien, 116 Mahé, family, 178 Mahé, Roland, 148, 154, 155, 156, 157, 177, 178, 180 Maison de ‘tit’Paul Lévesque, see Maison Taillefer Lévesque. Maison Taillefer Lévesque, 160, 161 Manet, Édouard, 4, 113, 136 Manisphere Jury Art Show (exhibition), 6, 175 Manitoba Legislative Building, 125, 175 Manitoba Society of Artists, 6, 7, 53, 57, 58, 65, 70, 88, 120, 122, 129, 130, 135, 137, 140, 141, 159, 191

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Manitoba Theatre Centre, 168 Manitoba, Le (newspaper), 34 Manoir Grenoble (apartment building), 168, 186 Marie Immaculée (Sister), 146 Marsh, Régine, 78, 151, 155 Matisse, Henri, 113, 117 McCloy, William Ashby, 140 Michener, Roland, 178 Modigliani, Amedeo, 114, 116 Molière, 135, 151, 156 Montmartre, 33, 108 Montreal (Quebec), 18, 78, 88, 109, 133, 134, 155, 172, 173, 183, 184, 185, 186, 193 Morton, Douglas, 109, 120 Musée de Saint-Boniface, 7, 25, 162, 165, 166, 175, 187, 193 Musée national d'art moderne (Paris), 117 Musgrove, Alexander, 50, 53, 58, 65 N, O National Gallery of Canada, 3, 122, 159 National Theatre School of Canada, Montreal, 155 Newton, Alison, 140 New York, 46, 122, 159, 192 Noella (apartment building), 125, 153 Nouvelliste, Le (newspaper), 5, 27, 29, 34, 38, 83, 191 Oblates (nuns), 146 Oblats de Marie-Immaculée (religious congregation), 15, 89 Œuvres de secours à la France, 88, 89 Order of Canada, 5, 178, 179, 191 Ordre des francophones d’Amérique, 5, 180 Ordre du mérite de la culture française, 5, 179 Ostiguy, Jean-Pierre, 3, 159 Ottawa (Ontario), 54, 78, 107 Overton, George, 53 P Palmes académiques françaises, 5, 78 Paris (France), 4, 46, 58, 95, 107, 108, 109, 110, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 125, 140, 145, 159, 192 Paris, ville du monde (talk), 145 Pellan, Alfred, 110 Péninsule, La, 71, 73, 75, 83, 90, 91, 105, 125, 163, 168 Péran, Hervé, 15, 21, 22 Permanent Players, 39, 65 Petite Feuille de Saint-Boniface, La (magazine), 34, 35 Phillips-Gutkin and Associates (graphic arts firm), 46, 47, 125, 132 Phillips, John, 46, 47, 48, 146 Phillips, Walter J., 3, 58, 65 Picart-Ledoux, Charles, 4, 107, 113, 115, 116 Picart-Ledoux Studio, 113 Picasso, Pablo, 113 Pierquin, M., 90, 125, 126 Pinvidec, Henri, 71

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Pinvidec, Mr. and Mrs., 71 Place des Arts (Montreal), 134 Place du Tertre (Montmartre), 108 Place Le Flô (Lesneven), 79, 80 Plante, Joseph, 78 Plaskett, Joseph, 146 Playhouse Theatre, 146 Post office (Saint-Boniface), 25 Post-secondary teaching association of the Collège de Saint-Boniface, 88 Poulbot, Francisque, 33 Près de chez nous (exhibition), 7 Profils féminins (publication), 7 Provincetown (Massachusetts), 93, 94, 95, 99, 105 Q, R Quebec, city, 18, 19, 78, 180 Quebec, province, 3, 5, 18, 168, 169, 172, 180, 183, 184, 185, 186 rBr (exhibition), 7 Recent Historical Acquisitions (exhibition), 6 Red Cross, 90, 108 Rémillard, Léo, 107, 108, 120, 122, 145, 146, 148, 151, 179, 194 Renoir, Auguste, 136 Residence of the petites soeurs de l’Archevêché, 164, 167 Restiaux, Frédéric, 86 Richard, René, 110 Rohmans, Chris, 95 Rostand, Edmond, 66 Roy, Adèle, 79 Roy, Gabrielle, 5, 73, 75, 78, 79, 105, 120, 148, 155 Royal Winnipeg Ballet, 146, 147 S Sacré-Coeur (Winnipeg), 146 St. Boniface, 3, 5, 6, 7, 23, 25, 26, 30, 34, 37, 38, 41, 43, 57, 59, 78, 79, 83, 105, 122, 125, 126, 127, 136, 141, 146, 147, 148, 149, 161, 163, 164, 165, 169, 173, 175, 176, 178, 184, 186, 187, 188, 191, 192 St. Boniface (Angoulême), 41 St. Boniface Cemetery, 26, 83, 188, 189 St. Boniface Courier (newspaper), 176 St. Boniface General Hospital, 186 St. Boniface school board, 127 St. Boniface school commission, 146 Sainte-Brigide (Montreal), 185 Sainte-Cécile (feast day), 62 Sainte-Geneviève (Paris), 118, 119 Saint-Étienne du Mont (Paris), church, 118 Saint-Germain des Prés (Paris), 117 Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Paris), 120 Saint-Hervé (Lanhouarneau), 14 Saint-Jacques, rue (Paris), 118, 140 St. Laurent (Manitoba), 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 172 St. Laurent school, 22

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St. Laurent church, 16, 17, 23 St. Lawrence River, 18, 185 Saint-Pierre, Annette, 7 Salé, Paul, 26 Salle Pauline-Boutal, 179 Salon des Beaux-Arts (exhibition), 88 Salon Empire, 7 Salvan, Jacques, 95 Sardinian (ship), 17 Sartre, Jean-Paul, 117 Seine River (France), 117, 118 Seine River (Manitoba), 59, 73, 83, 163 Seyches (Lot-et-Garonne), 29 Sheridan College (Ontario), 6 Simon, Pauline, 145, 148 Simon, René, 108 Sissons, Lynn, 140 Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 38, 62 Smith, Gordon, 6 Smith, Hall, 48 Société historique de Saint-Boniface, 193 Soleil de l’Ouest, Le (newspaper), 34, 41, 43 Souchon, Louis, 145, 148 Sourisseau, A., 70 Sourisseau, children, 78 Soutine, Chaïm, 114, 116 Speakers of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, 125 Star, Kay, 49 Stored Secrets: The Vault on View (exhibition), 7 Strait of Belle-Isle, 17 Surrey, Philip, 6, 46 Suzor-Coté, Marc-Aurèle de Foy, 21 T Tarzan, 30 Theatre 67, 146 Thibault, Yvonne, 74 Thorson, Charlie, 6 Tour Eiffel, La (apartment building), 168 Tremblay, family, 178 Tremblay, Françoise, 57 Tremblay, Janine, 57 Tremblay, Roland, 149 Tremblay, Suzanne, xxiii, 8, 90, 103, 105, 133,134, 135, 146, 148, 151, 163, 172, 178, 183, 184, 185, 186, 193 Trudel, Robert, 145, 148, 151 Tupper, Lady, 66 Turner, Edward Christopher, 126

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U, V Union Nationale Française, 146 University of Manitoba, 5, 6, 155, 179, 180 Valet, Mr., 115 Van Belleghem, Joseph Gustave, 4, 126, 127 van Gogh, Vincent, 147 Vanier, Georges Philias (General), 120 Ven, Marie, 172 Ven, Pauline, 172 Vermeer, Johannes, 54 Victoria Day (holiday), 33 View from Here, The (exhibition), 7 Vuillard, Édouard, 117 W, X, Y, Z Walker Theatre, 38, 39, 62 Warwick, Louise (née Kennedy), 168, 185, 186, 193 Warwick, Louise, see also Kennedy, Louise (Zizi). Whorf, John, 100, 101 Wilcox, Bobbie, 93, 94 Wilcox, Georgie, 93, 95, 101, 116, 137, 140 Winnipeg Art Club, 6, 29, 30, 191 Winnipeg Art Gallery, 5, 6, 50, 129, 147, 153, 175, 177, 180, 193 Winnipeg Auditorium, 131 Winnipeg Free Press (newspaper), 27, 140, 149, 176, 177, 192 Winnipeg Little Theatre, 65, 66, 67 Winnipeg School of Art, 3, 45, 50, 53, 65, 131, 132, 133, 140, 191 Winnipeg Sketch Club, 6 Winnipeg Tribune (newspaper), 41, 45, 89, 126, 140, 153, 159 Women of Caughnawaga (sculpture by Suzor-Coté), 21 Women’s Art, Women’s Lives (exhibition), 5 Workshop of Master Cabon, 11, 15 Zadkine, Ossip, 113, 115 Zerebri, Sammy, 30

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