Sans titre, 1967

Galeries Bellemare Lambert, Montreal 

Private Collection, Toronto

Rita Letendre began her career in the 1950s as an Automatiste painter, influenced by Paul-Émile Borduas' revolutionary gestural abstract paintings of the period. Although the Automatistes were instrumental in the evolution of her style, Letendre developed a singular vision in her body of work that resulted in a unique style that pushed boundaries of colour, light and space. After winning first prize in the Concours de la Jeune Peinture in 1959 and the Prix Rodolphe-de-Repentigny in 1960, the prize and the additional sales that followed would allow Letendre to dedicate herself to painting full-time.

The 1960s was a decade of well-deserved recognition for Letendre's work, beginning with a solo exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1961. In 1962, Letendre travelled to Europe, visiting Paris, Rome and then Israel. As the Automatiste group and its affiliates began to abandon their commitment to spontaneity in favour of a more controlled and deliberate structure, Letendre chose to maintain the impulsive and expressive brushstrokes in her work for a few more years. In the late-1960s she took a decisive shift into a structured, hard-edge style. She incorporated sharply defined forms and flat planes of colour, exploring her fascination with speed and vibration. These compositions, frequently articulated through diagonal or arrow- demonstrating a new clarity and control.

Sans titre, 1967 was completed during this key moment of transition for the artist. It serves as the preparatory work for a larger painting titled Espace of the same year, in the collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. These works are Letendre's first foray into hard-edge forms, before she would add bright colours during the 1970s.