Rita Letendre
(1928 - 2021) RCA
Artwork from the 1960s
RITA LETENDRE
L’Enchenteur
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1960 lower left; signed, titled and dated 1960 on the reverse
14 x 16 ins ( 35.6 x 40.6 cms )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $18,000.00
Price Realized $17,250.00
Sale date: May 25th 2017
RITA LETENDRE
Sans titre
gouache on paper
signed and dated 1961 lower right
9 x 12 ins ( 22.9 x 30.5 cms ) ( sight )
RITA LETENDRE
Terre feconde
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1961 lower right; signed, titled and dated 1961 on the reverse
48 x 48 ins ( 121.9 x 121.9 cms )
Auction Estimate: $125,000.00 - $175,000.00
Price Realized $264,000.00
Sale date: December 1st 2022
RITA LETENDRE
The Subterranean
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1961 lower right; signed, titled and dated on the stretcher
36 x 42 ins ( 91.4 x 106.7 cms )
Auction Estimate: $70,000.00 - $90,000.00
Price Realized $78,000.00
Sale date: December 6th 2023
RITA LETENDRE
Serie B, No. 2 (FH-22P)
casein on paper
signed and dated 1962 lower right
13 x 16 ins ( 33 x 40.6 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $2,500.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $3,680.00
Sale date: May 25th 2017
RITA LETENDRE
Rencontre enflammée
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1962 lower right; titled on three labels on the reverse
84 x 42 ins ( 213.4 x 106.7 cms )
Auction Estimate: $250,000.00 - $350,000.00
Price Realized $312,000.00
Sale date: June 8th 2023
RITA LETENDRE
Éclatement, 1963
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1963 lower right; signed, titled and dated "Paris 1963" on the reverse
18.25 x 21.75 in ( 46.4 x 55.2 cm )
Auction Estimate: $25,000.00 - $35,000.00
Price Realized $45,600.00
Sale date: November 27th 2024
RITA LETENDRE
Vers l’infini
colour silkscreen
signed, titled, dated 1967 and numbered 1/20 lower right
14 x 16 ins ( 35.6 x 40.6 cms ) ( sheet )
RITA LETENDRE
Sliding Speed
serigraph
signed, titled, dated 1967 and numbered 2/20 at the lower right
13.75 x 18.75 ins ( 34.9 x 47.6 cms ) ( sheet )
Consignments
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Rita Letendre Biography
(1928 - 2021) RCA
Canadian painter, muralist, and printmaker Rita Letendre was born in Drummondville, Quebec, in 1928. She is of Iroquois descent. Letendre and her parents moved to Montreal in 1941. She settled in Toronto in 1963. In part, Letendre is self-taught but she studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montreal for year and a half. While in school she was introduced to the Automatistes due to pamphlets announcing the locations of their new paintings.
Encouraged by Borduas, Mosseau, and Ferron’s art, Letendre began exploring similar motifs in her paintings and began exhibiting with the group from 1952-55. In 1955 she exhibited in “Espace 1955” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Sharing a studio with fellow Automatiste painter and sculptor, Ulysse Comtois, Letendre became the subject of an article by the Weekend Magazine on non-objective Montreal-based painters. Then, in 1959, Letendre was included in the Third Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Art. In the following year the National Gallery of Canada included Letendre in their Non-Figurative Artists of Montreal exhibit that traveled throughout Canada. In 1962, Letendre received a travelling grant from the Canada Council and traveled to Paris, Italy, Israel, Spain, Belgium, and Germany.
Using a variety of techniques and media such as brush, spatula, pastel, silkscreen, and airbrush, Letendre was a leading member of the colourist movement. Exhibited in over sixty-five solo exhibitions, Letendre’s work can be described in three distinct periods. Her first period, known as the Montreal years, was inspired by her first meeting with Borduas and was a rich exploration of self-discovery. Letendre’s second period was inspired by Russian-born sculptor Kosso Eloul, who later became her husband. Her final period was rooted in mourning and love.
Letendre’s works vary in size from grand murals that are sixty feet by sixty feet in size to small projects on silkscreen. These works are collected throughout the North American continent by governments and public and private galleries and organizations. Letendre’s work has been exhibited in Europe, Israel, Japan, and throughout North America in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Literature Sources:
"A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979
Roumanes, Jacques-Bernard. “Rita Letendre: Le tableau ivre.” Vie des Arts 45, 183, 2001
Andersen, Marguerite. “Rita Letendre: Énergie et luminosité. L’art du féminin, 12 2004
We extend our thanks to Danie Klein, York University graduate student in art history, for writing and contributing this artist biography.
