Françoise Sullivan LL.D (born 10 June 1923) is a Canadian painter, sculptor, dancer, choreographer and photographer whose work is marked by her ability to switch from one discipline to another.

Biography

Early life

Françoise Sullivan grew up in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, the youngest child and only girl in a middle-class family with four boys. Her father was a lawyer who worked as the Deputy Minister of the Federal Post Office Department. Her father enjoyed poetry and both he and her mother encouraged her early interest in the arts by enrolling her in dance, theatre, and painting lessons.

Education

Sullivan studied classical dance with Gérald Crevier from 1934 to 1945. She also took courses in visual arts, studying at Hochelaga Convent in 1939 and, at sixteen, began attending the ''

École des beaux-arts de Montréal École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

'' from 1940 to 1944. Her early paintings were influenced by

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

and

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. In 1941, she came into contact with the Québecois painter

Paul-Émile Borduas Paul-Émile Borduas (November 1, 1905 – February 22, 1960) was a Québécois artist known for his abstract paintings. He was the leader of the avant-garde Automatiste movement and the chief author of the Refus Global manifesto of 1948. B ...

and members of the group

Les Automatistes Les Automatistes were a group of Québécois artistic dissidents from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The movement was founded in the early 1940s by painter Paul-Émile Borduas. Les Automatistes were so called because they were influenced by Surrea ...

. Her friendship with Bourduas and the group influenced her paintings and performances in the following years. In 1948, Sullivan signed Les Automatistes' '' Refus Global'' manifesto, which included her essay ''La danse et l'espoir'' (Dance and Hope). From 1945 to 1947, Sullivan lived in New York where she studied modern dance with Franziska Boas, the daughter of anthropologist

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

. She also studied briefly with

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

and

Louis Horst Louis Horst (born January 12, 1884, Kansas City, Missouri – died January 23, 1964, New York City) was a composer, and pianist. He helped to define the principles of modern dance choreographic technique, most notably the matching of choreography ...

. In 1949, Sullivan married painter Paterson Ewen. Between 1952 and 1956, she worked as a dancer and choreographer for CBC television. In 1959, she studied metal welding under Armand Vaillancourt. She then returned to the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in 1960 to study under Louis Archambault. In 1961, she studied at the École des arts et métiers in Lachine.

Career

Sullivan returned to Montréal in 1947 and continued choreographing modern dance. In 1948, accompanied by Jean-Paul Riopelle and Maurice Perron, Sullivan performed ''Danse dans la neige'' (''Dance in the Snow'') outside in

Otterburn Park, Quebec Otterburn Park is a small town located east of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 8,479. The town lies south of Mont-Saint-Hilaire on the Richelieu River and is one of the few officially bilingual towns in ...

. Perron and Riopelle both documented the performance, however, only Perron's photographs remain as Riopelle's film footage was later lost. Like other members of Les Automatistes Sullivan was interested in 'psychic automatism' and ''Danse dans la neige'' was the second in a series of performances in which Sullivan improvised gestural movements to explore the seasons. ''Danse dans la neige'' is considered one of the most significant pieces of performance art in Canadian art history. The only score was the crunching of her own footsteps in the thickly crusted snow; her small audience consisted of Riopelle, Perron, their cameras, and the landscape itself. In 2007, Sullivan reworked her first two performances ''Summer'' and ''Danse dans la neige'' and completed two more choreographed dances which were filmed by Mario Côté to create ''Les Saisons Sullivan''. On 3 April 1948 Sullivan performed with her dance partner, Jeanne Renaud, at Ross House on the

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

campus in Montréal. Their collaborative performance featured choreographed and improvised movements, accompanied by a poetry reading by

Claude Gauvreau Claude Gauvreau (August 19, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada – July 7, 1971 in Montreal) was a playwright, poet, sound poet, and polemicist. He was a member of the radical Automatist movement and a contributor to the revolutionary Refus Glob ...

. This event is considered a significant moment in the history of modern dance in Québec. In the late 1950s, Sullivan turned to sculpture under the guidance of Armand Vaillancourt and learned welding at École des arts et métiers in Lachine, Québec. Her work was soon recognized as some of the most important modern sculpture in Québec. In 1960, she took a three-month course in sculpture with Louis Archambault at the ''

'' where she learned how to work with wood, iron, and plaster. In 1967, Sullivan received multiple commissions for monumental public sculpture. One, ''Callooh Callay,'' was installed on the fairgrounds of

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

, and the other, ''Aeris Ludus,'' was exhibited as part of ''Sculpture '67'' at

Nathan Phillips Square Nathan Phillips Square is an city square, urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named after Nathan Phillips ( ...

. In the late 1960s, Sullivan and Ewen experimented with

plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...

. In 1976, the couple collaborated with the sculptor David Moore on a work for the infamous

Corridart Corridart (sometimes stylized as Corrid'Art) was an almost 6 km (4 mile) long public exhibit of monumental installation artwork that took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Sherbrooke Street from July 6 to July 13 1976. The exhibition was cance ...

exhibit. The work, ''Legend of Artists,'' used a series of vitrines and didactic panels to illuminate the rich history of art and artists' lives in the city. When

Jean Drapeau Jean Drapeau (; 18 February 1916 – 12 August 1999) was a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Montreal for 2 non-consecutive terms from 1954 to 1957 and from 1960 to 1986. Major accomplishments of the Drapeau Administration include ...

ordered Corridart dismantled, Sullivan was one of the twelve artists who sued the city, a case that took twelve years to win. During the 1980s, Sullivan returned to painting. Between 1982 and 1994, she produced several series, which are regarded as the culmination of her work in this medium. These series include the Cretan Cycle (1983–85), the Hommages (2002-03), and the Tondos (1980s). In 1997, she completed ''Montagnes'' (Mountains), a granite wall located in the main lobby of President Kennedy Pavilion of

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

. ''Montagnes'' is the only permanently installed Sullivan sculpture. In 2000, UQAM awarded her an honorary doctorate. Since 1997, Sullivan has taught painting at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

. In 2001, she was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (, MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it ...

held a

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

of her work. In 2023, the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west. The MMFA ...

celebrated her 100th birthday with a show of recent work. The exhibition also will draw attention to the important representation of Sullivan’s work – close to 50 artworks – in the Museum collection. She celebrated her centenary on 10 June.

Honours

* 1943 – Prix Maurice Cullen from

* 1963 – Prix du Québec, Sculpture * 1981 – Second prize-

Segal Centre for Performing Arts The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, formerly the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, is a theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 5170 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road, chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, in the borough of Côte-des ...

Biennial * 1983 –

Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award The Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award is a monetary award given since 1971 by the Canada Council for the Arts to Canadian artists judged to be outstanding in their mid-careers. Since 2005, the award is given to one recipient in each of the follow ...

from the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

* 1987 – Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas * 1990 – Member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

* 1998 – Honorary doctorate from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

* 2000 – Honorary doctorate from

* 2001 – Member of

* 2002 – Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

* 2005 –

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

in Visual and Media Arts * 2023 – Honorary doctorate from

Biography

Early life

Education

Career

Honours

References

Further reading