Simone Mary Bouchard (1912–1945) was a Canadian painter and textile artist. She was known for her primitive style of painting.

Early life

Simone Mary Bouchard was born in 1912 in Baie-Saint-Paul,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. She began her career creating

hooked rugs Rug hooking is both an art and a craft where rugs are made by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a crochet-type hook mounted in ...

for the tourist trade. She became acquainted with the anthropologist

Marius Barbeau Charles Marius Barbeau, (March 5, 1883 – February 27, 1969), also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology. A ...

, and his assistant the ethnologist/painter

Jean Palardy Jean Palardy (1905November 28, 1991) was a French-Canadian painter, art historian, ethnologist and filmmaker. Biography Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Palardy moved with his family to Canada as a child in 1908, one of eight children. He was ...

. Subsequently, Bouchard repaired textiles for Barbeau and produced rugs for Palardy.

Art career

In 1937 her work was included in and exhibition of North American primitives. Barbeau and Palardy became aware of Bouchard's paintings, which were

naive Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...

genre scenes. The men brought her work to the attention of other artists and collectors. In 1941 Bouchard was included in the ''Première exposition des Indépendants'' exhibition at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City. This exhibition was organized by

Marie-Alain Couturier Marie-Alain Couturier, O.P., (15 November 1897 – 9 February 1954) was a French Dominican friar and Catholic priest, who gained fame as a designer of stained glass windows. He was noted for his modern inspiration in the field of Sacred art. Li ...

and included eleven members of the Contemporary Arts Society; Bouchard,

Paul-Émile Borduas Paul-Émile Borduas (November 1, 1905 – February 22, 1960) was a Québecois 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. Bord ...

, Stanley Cosgrove,

Louise Landry Gadbois Louise Landry Gadbois (27 November 1896 – 10 August 1985) was a Canadian painter associated with the Contemporary Arts Society in Montreal. She is known for her portraiture. Biography Marie Marguerite Louise Gadbois was born in 1896 in Montre ...

, Eric Goldberg,

John Goodwin Lyman John Goodwin Lyman (September 29, 1886 – May 26, 1967) was an American-born Canadian modernist painter active largely in Montreal, Quebec. In the 1930s he did much to promote modern art in Canada, founding the Contemporary Art Society in 1939. ...

Louis Muhlstock Louis Muhlstock, LL.D. (April 23, 1904 August 26, 2001) was a Canadian painter best known for his depictions of the Great Depression and for landscapes and urban scenes in and around Montreal. Career Born in Narajów, Galicia, Austria-Hungar ...

, Alfred Pellan,

Goodridge Roberts William Goodridge Roberts (1904–1974) was a Canadian painter known for his landscape paintings, still lifes, figure paintings and interiors. He was also a teacher. Career Goodridge Roberts was the son of poet and novelist George Edward Theod ...

Jori Smith Marjorie "Jori" Smith, (January 1, 1907 – November 25, 2005) was a key figure in the 1930s in initiating Canada's modernist art movement. She was a founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society in 1939. Biography Smith was born in Montreal, ...

, and

Philip Surrey Philip Surrey LL. D. (1910-1990) was a Canadian artist known for his figurative scenes of Montreal. A founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society, and Montreal Men's Press Club (now Montreal Press Club), Surrey was part of Montreal’s cult ...

. The exhibition traveled to Montreal. The Dominion Art Gallery in Montreal held retrospectives of her work in 1947 and 1952. Her work is included in the collections of the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

and the

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec ( en, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is situated in Battlefield Park and is a complex consisting of four bui ...

. Bouchard died in 1945 of a lung ailment.

References

External links

images of Simone Mary Bouchard's paintings
at ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchard, Simone Mary 1912 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Canadian women artists 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian women painters Canadian textile artists Women textile artists People from Baie-Saint-Paul Artists from Quebec Deaths from lung disease