signed and dated 1961 towards lower left; signed, titled and dated on the reverse
16 × 20 in (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
(including Buyer's Premium)
Private Collection, Montreal
By 1961, Rita Letendre was at a pivotal point in her career. Having emerged from the circle of Automatistes and having exhibited in their last group show in 1955 in Montreal, Letendre quickly moved from gestural, painterly abstraction toward the bold, structured forms that would define her mature style. During this period she was beginning to receive serious national attention. She had just presented solo exhibitions in Montreal and Toronto and had been included in important group shows like The Non-Figurative Artists of Montreal at the National Gallery of Canada in 1956 and The Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Painting in 1961. Letendre’s paintings from this time, including Jour d’été, 1961, feature dense, highly textured impasto and sweeping, explosive strokes of colour in reds, blacks, and whites. In this instance, the artist has added accents of cheerful lime green, perhaps in reference to the title, translating to “Summer Day”.
