Madeleine Arbour (born March 3, 1923) is a Canadian designer, painter, and journalist living in

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

Career

Born in

Granby, Quebec Granby is a town in southwestern Quebec, located east of Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 69,025. Granby is the seat of La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality. It is the second most populated city in Estrie after ...

on March 3, 1923, Arbour has worked in Quebecois television as a journalist and as a set designer. She has 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 Le Refus global ( en, Total Refusal, link=yes) was an anti-establishment and anti-religious manifesto released on August 9, 1948, in Montreal by a group of sixteen young Québécois artists and intellectuals that included Paul-Émile Borduas, Je ...

manifesto in 1948. In addition, she has taught at the Institute of Applied Arts in Montreal and the College du Vieux-Montreal. 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, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

coaches,

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...

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 manif ...

, a room at the

Citadelle of Quebec The Citadelle of Quebec (french: Citadelle de Québec), also known as ''La Citadelle'', is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of both the Canadian monarch and the governor general of Canada. It is located atop Cap ...

and public spaces at the residence of the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

. In 1974, she animated the title card to Patofville for

CFTM-TV CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language TVA network. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios on Boulevard de Maisonneuve East and Rue Alexandre de Sève in the ...

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

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 1998, she was further awarded the Prix Condorcet. She was named a Chevaliere in the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

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 Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. 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 ( 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 ...

: "Madeleine Arbour: espace de bonheur".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arbour, Madeleine 1923 births Living people Artists from Quebec Canadian women painters 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 French Quebecers Women scenic designers Women theatre designers 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian women artists Canadian theatre designers