Aspects of Canadian Art
ARTH 271
Margaret Hodges
,
,FALL 2019
, ARTH 271 : Aspects of Canadian Art
This course introduces the art of Canada, with a particular emphasIS on Quebec art and
society In relation to the rest of Canada. The lectures will examine Quebec and Canadian painting
before and after Paul-I:mlle Borduas. It was Borduas, a pivotal Canadian artist, who believed in
an open society and painted accordingly. Borduas precipitated the change in Quebec from
the closed society represented by the Catholic religion and the French language to
a more Inclusive society premised on the defence of universal values. The course begins with an
analysis of the figure in Quebec painting to show how each type of figure symbOlizes aspects of
pre-modem Quebec as it related to Canadian culture at that time. This includes the nun
and religion; the figure of the habitant (the pioneer); the relation of the individual to the
land; and the figurative construction of First Nations. Landscape, a persistent theme in Canadian
art, will also be considered, especially the political discourse imbedded in images of the
land, and how that evolved from the realistic representation of the land to the abstract work of
Borduas.
Part 1: The human figure
Course no 1: Introduction: the question of freedom.
The human figure in painting Particularism versus Universalism.
The first figure: the nun.
The religious paradigm: Antoine Plamondon's Portraits of four nuns and their
families.
Course no 2: Spiritual interiority versus religious exteriority: Ozias Leduc's phrenology,
readers and dreamers.
Course no 3: Towards universalism: Alfred Pellan in Charlevoix and Paul-I:mile Borduas' early
figurative works depicting human figures.
Course no 4: The second figure: the habitant
°
Ruralism, regionalism. Marc Aurele de Foy Suzor COt6.
Course no 5: Toward an image of the city dwellers.
Stanley Cosgrove, disciple of Maillard and Orozco; LOUIS Muhlstock and
biopolitic. The naked life.
Course no 6: The third flQure: the Native.
Plamondon's Le damier des hurons: the figure of the sauvage in Quebec XIXth
century thought
Course no 7· Pnmitivlsm in Borduas and the Automatists: Riopelle, Mousseau and Sullivan.
Part II: The land
Course no 8: Ozias Leduc's intimate landscape: he painted the Saint-Hilaire landscape with
which he was the most familiar.
Course no 9: City scapes: Adrien H6bert and Marc Aur61e Fortin. Two points of view on the
city: one more enthusiast, the other more reticent
2
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ARTH 271
Margaret Hodges
,
,FALL 2019
, ARTH 271 : Aspects of Canadian Art
This course introduces the art of Canada, with a particular emphasIS on Quebec art and
society In relation to the rest of Canada. The lectures will examine Quebec and Canadian painting
before and after Paul-I:mlle Borduas. It was Borduas, a pivotal Canadian artist, who believed in
an open society and painted accordingly. Borduas precipitated the change in Quebec from
the closed society represented by the Catholic religion and the French language to
a more Inclusive society premised on the defence of universal values. The course begins with an
analysis of the figure in Quebec painting to show how each type of figure symbOlizes aspects of
pre-modem Quebec as it related to Canadian culture at that time. This includes the nun
and religion; the figure of the habitant (the pioneer); the relation of the individual to the
land; and the figurative construction of First Nations. Landscape, a persistent theme in Canadian
art, will also be considered, especially the political discourse imbedded in images of the
land, and how that evolved from the realistic representation of the land to the abstract work of
Borduas.
Part 1: The human figure
Course no 1: Introduction: the question of freedom.
The human figure in painting Particularism versus Universalism.
The first figure: the nun.
The religious paradigm: Antoine Plamondon's Portraits of four nuns and their
families.
Course no 2: Spiritual interiority versus religious exteriority: Ozias Leduc's phrenology,
readers and dreamers.
Course no 3: Towards universalism: Alfred Pellan in Charlevoix and Paul-I:mile Borduas' early
figurative works depicting human figures.
Course no 4: The second figure: the habitant
°
Ruralism, regionalism. Marc Aurele de Foy Suzor COt6.
Course no 5: Toward an image of the city dwellers.
Stanley Cosgrove, disciple of Maillard and Orozco; LOUIS Muhlstock and
biopolitic. The naked life.
Course no 6: The third flQure: the Native.
Plamondon's Le damier des hurons: the figure of the sauvage in Quebec XIXth
century thought
Course no 7· Pnmitivlsm in Borduas and the Automatists: Riopelle, Mousseau and Sullivan.
Part II: The land
Course no 8: Ozias Leduc's intimate landscape: he painted the Saint-Hilaire landscape with
which he was the most familiar.
Course no 9: City scapes: Adrien H6bert and Marc Aur61e Fortin. Two points of view on the
city: one more enthusiast, the other more reticent
2
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