Marcelle Ferron, (January 29, 1924 – November 19, 2001), a Canadian '' Québécoise'' painter and stained glass artist, was one of the original 16 signatories of

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. Bor ...

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, and a major figure in the

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 ...

contemporary art scene, associated with the Automatistes.

Early years

Ferron was born in Louiseville, Quebec on January 29, 1924. Her brother

Jacques Ferron Jacques Ferron (January 20, 1921 – April 22, 1985) was a Canadian physician and author. Jacques Ferron was born in Louiseville, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Alphonse Ferron and Adrienne Caron. On March 5, 1931 his mother died. He attended Collè ...

and her sister Madeleine Ferron were both writers. She studied at the École des beaux-arts de Québec before dropping out, unsatisfied with the way the school's instructors addressed modern art. Ferron was an early member of

's ''Automatistes'' art movement. She signed the manifesto

, a watershed event in the Quebec cultural scene, in 1948.

Work

In 1953, she moved to Paris, where she worked for 13 years in drawing and painting and was introduced to the art of stained glass, for which she would become best known. Ferron returned in 1966 to Quebec, where she worked exclusively with stained glass for the next two decades. One of her stained-glass windows is at

Champ-de-Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...

metro station in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec. It was one of the first non-figurative works to be installed in the metro, in defiance of the didactic style present in other works of the period, and signalled a major shift in public art in Montreal between the policies of then art director Robert Lapalme and future art director and fellow ''automatiste''

Jean-Paul Mousseau Jean-Paul Mousseau (January 1, 1927 – February 7, 1991) was a Quebec artist. He was a student of Paul-Émile Borduas, a member of the Automatist group and a founding member of the Association of Non-Figurative Artists of Montreal. Career Jea ...

. Other examples of her works can be seen at Vendôme metro station,

Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine The Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (CHU Sainte-Justine) is the largest mother and child centre in Canada and one of the four most important pediatric centres in North America. It is affiliated with the Université de Montréal, lo ...

, and the ICAO headquarters, in Montreal; the Place du Portage in Gatineau, Quebec; and the

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 afte ...

courthouse.

Awards and honours

In 1983, she was awarded the Paul-Émile-Borduas prize for the visual arts by the government of Quebec. In 1985, she was made a Knight of 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 Governo ...

and was promoted to Grand Officer in 2000. She also was a 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 Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

Death

She died in Montreal.

Legacy

A nursing home in

Brossard Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil ...

, Quebec, the Centre d'Accueil Marcelle-Ferron, is named after her. On 7 September 2019, Google honoured Ferron with a “google doodle” to mark the anniversary of the unveiling of her installation in Montreal's Vendôme station.

Record sale prices

At the Heffel Auction, Post-War & Contemporary Art, November 24, 2022, lot 17, ''Sans titre'', oil on canvas, 63 3/4 x 51 in, 161.9 x 129.5 cm, Auction Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000 CAD, realized a price of $1,801,250 (including Buyer's Premium). At the Cowley Abbott Auction, Important Canadian Art (Sale 1), December 1, 2022, lot #43 ''Sans titre'' (1960), oil on canvas, 74.75 x 98.5 ins ( 189.9 x 250.2 cms ), Auction Estimate: $550,000.00 - $750,000.00, realized a price of $1,260,000.00.

References

Marcelle Ferron Bio https://www.canadianartgroup.com/post-war-artists/marcelle-ferron/

External links

Marcelle Ferron - Montreal by Metro

Stealing the show : seven women artists in Canadian public art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferron, Marcelle 1924 births 2001 deaths Canadian stained glass artists and manufacturers Canadian women painters French Quebecers Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Montreal Metro artists People from Louiseville Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian women artists Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery Université Laval faculty Canadian abstract artists Canadian glass artists