1943

The Automatist Years: 1943

January

Publishes Manières de goûter une œuvre d'art in Amérique française (Écrits I, p. 31).

January 17 - February 15

The Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition organized by Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first presented in September in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art), is shown in Washington (D.C.) at the Phillips Memorial Gallery. The exhibition then travels to eight other American cities through December 1943: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Detroit (Mich.), Baltimore (My), San Francisco (Calif.), Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Wash.) and Toledo (Ohio), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469). Borduas exhibits:

  • No 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No.4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No.5. Abstraction 14, 1942
February 1 - 8

The Contemporary Arts Society exhibition (first presented in Montreal, in November 1942, in the Lecture Hall (or Galerie des Arts) of the Art Association), is shown in Kingston (Ont.), at Queen's University. The exhibition travels to Ottawa and Quebec City through April 1943 (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 470). Only Tête casquée, 1941 and Gouache no 48, 1942 are exhibited in all venues.

February 23 - March 29

The Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition organized by Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first held in1942 in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art), is shown in Detroit (Mich.) at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The exhibition then travels to eight American cities through December 1943: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Baltimore (Md), San Francisco (Calif.), Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Wash.) and Toledo (Ohio), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469). Borduas exhibits:

  • No. 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No. 4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No. 5. Abstraction 14, 1942
April

The last stop for the Contemporary Arts Society traveling exhibition (first presented in Montreal, in November 1942 in the Lecture Hall (or Galerie des Arts) of the Art Association), was Quebec City, shown at the Foyer du Palais Montcalm. The exhibition had traveled to Ottawa and Kingston through April 1943 (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 470).

April 16 - May 16

The Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition organised by Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first presented in September 1942 in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art), is shown in Baltimore (Maryland), at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The exhibition travels through December 1943, to eight American cities: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Detroit (Mich.), San Francisco (Calif.), Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Wash.) and Toledo (Ohio), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469). Borduas exhibits:

  • No. 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No. 4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No. 5. Abstraction 14, 1942
April 19

Travels to New York for a ten-day study trip. He and Father Couturier are unsuccessful in their attempt to meet with André Breton (Écrits I, p. 31).

May 1 - 9

Exhibition of the Sagittaires at the Dominion Gallery (Montreal). This group, formed by Maurice Gagnon, consists of twenty- three young artists of whom eleven are Borduas’ pupils at the École du meuble, and four others who frequent his studio (Écrits I, p. 31-32).

May 28

Fernand Léger gives a lecture entitled Les origines de la peinture moderne in the Hall of the Ermitage de Montréal and presents his film Le Ballet mécanique (Écrits I, p. 32).

June

Pellan is hired as professor at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal (Écrits I, p. 32).

June 8 - July 6

The Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition organized by Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first presented in September 1942 in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art), is shown in San Francisco at the San Francisco Museum of Art. The exhibition travels through December 1943 to eight American cities: San Francisco (Calif.), cities: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Detroit (Mich.), Baltimore (Md), Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Wash.) and Toledo (Ohio), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469). Borduas exhibits:

  • No 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No.4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No.5. Abstraction 14, 1942
June 12

Borduas is judge of an exhibition of student works from the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie in Montreal (Écrits I, p. 32).

Summer

The Contemporary Arts Society establishes the Section des jeunes (Écrits I, p. 32; Teyssèdre, p. 246 n. 18).

Summer

Fernand Leduc and Guy Viau find an abandoned farm in Saint-Hilaire, where they set up to paint. The farm is three miles from Borduas’ studio, and they visit frequently. (Teyssèdre, p. 232).

July 15 - August 15

The Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition organised by Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first presented in September 1942 in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art), is shown in Portland (Oregon) at the Portland Art Museum. The exhibition then travels through December 1943 to eight American cities: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Detroit (Mich.), Baltimore (Md), San Francisco (Calif.), Seattle (Wash.) and Toledo (Ohio), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469). Borduas exhibits:

  • No. 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No. 4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No. 5. Abstraction 14, 1942
August 23 - September 23

The Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition, organized par Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first presented in1942 in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art) in Seattle (Wash.) is shown at the Seattle Art Museum. The exhibition travels through December 1943 to eight American: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Detroit (Mich.), Baltimore (Md), San Francisco (Calif.), Portland (Oregon) and Toledo (Ohio), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469). Borduas exhibits:

  • No 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No.4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No.5. Abstraction 14, 1942
September 17

Letter to André Breton and to Fernand Leduc inquiring about getting a subscription to the surrealist journal VVV (Écrits I, p. 32).

October 2 - 13

The Exposition Borduas held at the Dominion Gallery in Montreal, (Écrits I, p. 32; Gagnon, 1978, p. 475) consists of thirty paintings, among which twenty (from 50 to 69) are identified only by an order number and a price. Works exhibited were:

  • No 1. Figure légendaire, 1941
  • No 2. Les Trois baigneuses, 1941
  • No 3. Nu de dos, 1941
  • No 4. Nature morte au vase incliné, 1941
  • No 5. Tahitienne, 1941
  • No 6. Tête casquée, 1941
  • No 7. Nature morte aux raisins verts, 1941
  • No 8. La Ballade du pendu, 1941
  • No 9. La Cavale infernale, 1943
  • No 10. Abstraction verte, 1941

Most of the last twenty paintings received titles at a later date; they are:

  • No 50. Masque au doigt levé, 1943
  • No 51. La Danseuse jaune et la bête, 1943
  • No 52. Non identifié
  • No 53. Diaphragme rudimentaire, 1943
  • No 54. Le clown et la licorne, 1943
  • No 55. Les Coquilles, 1943
  • No 56. Arbre de la science du bien et du mal, 1943
  • No 57. Arbres dans la nuit ou Les Deux Arbres, 1943
  • No 58. Le Poisson, 1943
  • No 59. Viol aux confins de la matière, 1943
  • No 60. Explosion ou Nonne repentante, 1943
  • No 61. Oiseau déchiffrant un hiéroglyphe, 1943
  • No 62. Léda, le cygne et le serpent, 1943
  • No 63. Non identifiée
  • No 64. Glaïeul ou La Fleur safran, 1943
  • No 65. L'Oiseau haut perché, 1943
  • No 66. Carcasses d'aigle et de lapin, 1943
  • No 67. Noeud de vipères savourant un peu-rouge, 1943
  • No 68. Le Hibou, 1943
  • No 69. Signes cabalistiques, 1943
October 5

Letter from Leduc, in behalf of his friends, to Breton: “It is of little importance to us, at the moment, to work in a surrealist style” (« Il nous importe peu, pour le moment, de travailler dans une facture surréaliste »), (Écrits I, p. 32).

November 13 - 24

Ronces rouges from 1943, is presented at the annual exhibition of the Contemporary Art Society, held at the Dominion Gallery, in Montreal (Écrits I, p. 32).

November 17 - December 16

The last showing of the Aspects of Contemporary Painting in Canada exhibition organized by Bartlett Hayes Jr. (first presented in September 1942 in Andover (Mass.) at the Addison Gallery of American Art), is in Toledo (Ohio) at the Toledo Museum of Art. The exhibition travelled through December 1943 to eight American cities: Northampton (Mass.), Washington (D.C.), Detroit (Mich.), Baltimore (Md), San Francisco (Calif.), Portland (Oregon) and Seattle (Wash.), (Écrits I, p. 31; Gagnon, 1978, p. 474; 1988, p. 469).

  • No 3. Nature morte aux oignons, 1941
  • No.4. Abstraction no 13, 1942
  • No.5. Abstraction 14, 1942
December

Publication of Borduas by Robert Élie in the collection Art vivant edited by Maurice Gagnon (Écrits I, p. 32).

December 22 - 30

Illness; a short stay in the countryside (Écrits I, p. 32).