Posted on by Marlene

BCD#34

Blind Contour Drawing #34 “Stained glass installation – Champ-de-Mars metro station in Montreal” Marcelle Ferron

From her earliest years, a resistance to conformity and a determination to bridge the domains of art and life characterized Marcelle Ferron’s life. At age three, repeated hospitalizations due to osseous tuberculosis forced her to internalize an awareness of death and to believe in the urgency of living well, even as the illness left her with a “bad leg” and lifelong struggles with her health. At age seven, her mother died and her father moved Ferron and her siblings to rural Quebec, where they benefited from outdoor activities and his well-stocked library.

Encouraged in her passion for painting, Ferron enrolled in Montreal’s École des Beaux-Arts; within a year, she withdrew over disagreements with the institution’s approach to modern art. Seeking new styles and a mode of artistic engagement with the world, Ferron became associated with the Quebecois group known as the Automatistes, artists who worked to suppress conscious control and let the unconscious mind take over creation.

Through the Automatistes, Ferron joined several avant-garde artists in 1948 to sign the Refus Global, an anarchistic manifesto that called on the Quebec clergy and mainstream society to reject traditional social values. The manifesto shocked the public and left all of its signatories blacklisted, thanks to statements like: “To the devil with holy water sprinklers and the ‘tuque.’” Yet, although the CBC calls the Refus Global “one of the most important and controversial artistic and social documents in modern Quebec society,” it sparked enormous ideological change, eventually leading to the province’s Quiet Revolution.

Ferron’s existentialism and anti-establishment values informed her private life, too. Refusing to submit to social expectations that would have her embrace domestic life, Ferron left her husband in 1953, moving with her three daughters to Paris, where she stayed for thirteen years. During her time in Europe, Ferron became part of the Parisian café scene, where she hobnobbed with well-known artists. Support for her paintings and regular exhibitions in reputable galleries meant that, by the time she returned to Quebec in 1966, she enjoyed international renown.

Never satisfied with mere acknowledgement of her talent, Ferron was determined to reach a wider audience with her art. Her friendship with the painter Paul-Émil Borduas led her to adopt the belief that “the artist’s role was social,” and she persistently searched for ways to transcend the political limitations of a parlor artist. She found a new means to articulate her ideas after finding inspiration in the windows of European cathedrals. She studied stained glass with the Michel Blum in Paris before returning to Montreal to invent “a method that allowed her to build walls of light by inserting sheets of antique glass between two walls of glass, the surfaces between joined by invisible joints that she, herself, perfected.”

Ferron’s glass technique led to tremendous success, and established her as one of the most preeminent public artists in Quebec. Her stained glass dominates several spaces in Montreal, including the Champs-de-Mars and Vendome metro stations.

 

Born: 1924, Louiseville
Died: 2001, Montreal

Sources:

 

“Celebrating Women’s Achievements: Marcelle Ferron.” Library and Archives Canada. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/030001-1160-e.html

 

Lambton, Gunda. “Marcelle Ferron.” Stealing the Show: Seven Women Artists in Canadian Public Art. McGill-Queens UP, 1994, pp. 15 – 33.

 

“Refus Global: Revolution in the Arts.” CBC Archives. https://www.cbc.ca/archives/topic/le-refus-global-revolution-in-the-arts

 

24 Replies to “BCD#34”

  3. you are in reality a just right webmaster The site loading velocity is incredible It seems that you are doing any unique trick In addition The contents are masterwork you have performed a wonderful task on this topic

  5. Wonderful beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear idea

  6. Güvenilir bir şekilde kapıda ödemeli veya havaleli olarak Karaman elektronik sigara alışverişi yapmak isteyen kullanıcılar web sitemizden sipariş oluşturabilirler. Unutmayın Türkiye’nin en güvenilir Karaman elektronik sigara sitesiyiz. Toplu olarak Smok Elektronik Sigara , Vaporesso Elektronik Sigara , Voopoo Elektronik Sigara , Uwell Elektronik Sigara , Joyetech Elektronik Sigara , Wismec Elektronik Sigara satın almak isterseniz bize ulaşabilirsiniz. VozolElektronikSigara

  9. you are in reality a just right webmaster. The site loading velocity is incredible. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a wonderful task on this topic!

  11. I simply could not leave your website without expressing my admiration for the quality of the information you provided on your visitors. I anticipate revisiting frequently to explore and verify new postings.

  12. Hello Neat post Theres an issue together with your site in internet explorer would check this IE still is the marketplace chief and a large element of other folks will leave out your magnificent writing due to this problem

  13. upysm.com 是一個專業的社交媒體推廣平台，提供各種刷粉絲服務，讓您的Instagram、Facebook、Youtube等帳號快速增加人氣和影響力。無論您是個人創作者還是企業品牌，我們都可以為您量身定制最合適的方案，讓您在社交媒體上脫穎而出。

  14. I appreciate your website, however I think you might check the spelling of a few of your postings. Even though I find it quite difficult to tell the truth because so many of them have spelling errors, I will most certainly return.

  17. I just could not depart your web site prior to suggesting that I really loved the usual info an individual supply in your visitors Is gonna be back regularly to check up on new posts

  19. Your posts always provide me with a new perspective and encourage me to look at things differently Thank you for broadening my horizons

  22. Just wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is just cool and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.

  23. Your writing is not only informative but also incredibly inspiring. You have a knack for sparking curiosity and encouraging critical thinking. Thank you for being such a positive influence!

  24. helloI like your writing very so much proportion we keep up a correspondence extra approximately your post on AOL I need an expert in this space to unravel my problem May be that is you Taking a look forward to see you

Comments are closed.