Galierie Simon Blais, Montreal (Inventory No. 166)
Private Collection, Montreal
Exhibited
“Ferron-Hamelin”, Librairie Tranquille, Montreal, 15-30 January 1949
“Marcelle Ferron rétrospective 1947-1999”, Galerie Simon Blais, Montreal, 7 May‒28 June 2008
Literature
Raymond-Marie Léger, “Exposition Ferron-Hamelin”, Le Quartier Latin, 28 January 1949, page 4
François-Marc Gagnon, “Chronique du mouvement automatiste québécois 1941-1954”, Montreal, 1998, pages 590-594
“Marcelle Ferron”, Éditions Simon Blais, Montreal, 2008, page 11, reproduced page 48
Jean De Julio-Paquin, “Marcelle Ferron, Une femme éprise de liberté”, Vie des arts, été 2008, pages 52-55, reproduced
Roald Nasgaard and Ray Ellenwood, “Automatiste Revolution: Montreal, 1941-1960”, Toronto, 2009, page 36, reproduced page 48
Ray Ellenwood, “Égrégore: Une histoire du mouvement automatiste de Montréal”, Montreal, 2014, pages 160-161, reproduced
Marcelle Ferron remained faithful to automatism throughout her career; she was driven by the aesthetic, the solidarity of the group, and especially the teaching of Borduas, who promised her at their first meeting that he would show her how to find the “joy” in her painting. Ferron had undergone an artistic crisis in the period preceding her meeting with Borduas in 1946, and his art and personality had a life-changing and enduring effect on the young painter. A signatory of the Refus global in 1948, Ferron was one of seven women to sign the manifesto, and one of the youngest to do so, at age twenty-four. Marcelle Ferron was inspired by a new image of the modern artist as someone who assumes a social role. According to art historian Louise Vigneault, “through her support of progressive ideals, her constant renewing of aesthetic and technical parameters and her special connections to Quebec society and culture, [Ferron] would succeed in defining a new artistic identity, based simultaneously on resistance and rootedness.” A female artist at a time when women rarely achieved success in the field, Ferron can be seen as a revolutionary, someone who not only paved the way for a host of later artists but also showed proof of unrivaled political commitment.
“Titre indéterminé (Librairie tranquille)” was painted during the peak years of the Automatistes and the culmination of the creation of the Refus global manifesto. The oil on board painting is alluring and mysterious, composed of seemingly infinite layers of deep blue paint. Ferron has used her characteristic expressive palette knife strokes, creating an animated and spontaneous abstract image. Pigments of blue, green, purple and black are layered and then scraped off, revealing a mottled appearance recalling the view into a deep ocean.
