Madeleine Marie Gertrude Arbour (3 March 1923 – 10 December 2024) was a Canadian designer, painter and journalist in

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, ...

. She was the first woman to preside over the . Arbour was recognized as a pioneer in interior design, communication and visual arts.

Biography

Madeleine Marie Gertrude Arbour was born in

Granby, Quebec Granby () is a town in the southwestern region of Quebec east of Montreal. According to the latest statistics from the 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Canadian Census, Granby has a population of 69,025. It is the administrative center of La Haute-Yam ...

on 3 March 1923. Arbour worked in Québécois television as a journalist and as a set designer. She also worked in theatre, designing costumes and sets, including the

Théâtre du Rideau Vert The Théâtre du Rideau Vert is a theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 4664 Saint Denis Street in the borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. Founded in 1949 by Yvette Brind'Amour and Mercedes Palomino, the Théâtre du Rideau Vert wa ...

and the . During the 1940s, she was associated with

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 ...

and signed the Refus Global manifesto in 1948. In addition, she taught at the Institute of Applied Arts in Montreal and the Collège du Vieux-Montréal. In 1965, she established an interior design company. Among her major works are the design of

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

coaches,

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

aircraft, the interior of the former studio of painter

Jean-Paul Riopelle Jean-Paul Riopelle, (October 7, 1923 – March 12, 2002) was a Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec. He had one of the longest and most important international careers of the sixteen signatories of the '' Refus Global'', the 1948 manifest ...

, a room at the

Citadelle of Quebec The Citadelle of Quebec (), also known as , is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of the governor general of Canada. It is atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec. The citadel ...

and public spaces at the residence of the

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 1974, she animated the title card to

Patof ''Patof'' is a character in the highly successful Canadian children's television series ''Patofville''. He was portrayed by actor-comedian Jacques Desrosiers. Television, performances, and comics In January 1972, the clown Patof made his appea ...

for

CFTM-DT CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language network TVA. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios in the '' Journal de Montréal'' building on Rue Frontenac in ...

. Arbour received significant recognition for her contributions to the Canadian visual arts and design scene; in 1986, she was appointed

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 ...

(CM). In 1998, she was further awarded the Prix Condorcet. She was appointed a ''Chevalière'' (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 ...

(CQ) in 1999. In 2001, she was named to 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 ...

(RCA). In 1984, Arbour was recognized by the Conseil national du design for her contributions to the development of Canadian design. She was also the subject of an exhibition at the

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is located in National Battlefields Park and is a complex of four buildings. Three of them were purpose-built for ...

: "Madeleine Arbour: espace de bonheur". Arbour was married to

Pierre Gauvreau Pierre Saint-Mars Gauvreau (23 August 1922 – 7 April 2011) was a Canadian painter and writer who also worked in film and television production. Career He was born in Montreal, and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in 1937, ...

from 1949 until the 1970s, and had two children with him. In 2012, she received the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

. She died in

L'Île-Perrot The Town of Île-Perrot (French/official name: ''Ville de l'Île-Perrot'', ) is a town and municipality on Île Perrot in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census was 10,756. The town is at the western end of Lake ...

, on 10 December 2024, at the age of 101.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arbour, Madeleine 1923 births 2024 deaths Artists from Quebec Canadian interior designers Canadian scenic designers Knights of the National Order of Quebec Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts People from Granby, Quebec Women scenic designers Women theatre designers 20th-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian painters Canadian theatre designers Academic staff of Cégep du Vieux Montréal 20th-century Canadian women painters 21st-century Canadian women painters Canadian women designers Canadian women centenarians