RITA LETENDRE

- RITA LETENDRE -

Abenaki, 1928–2021

Rita Letendre was a celebrated Abenaki and Québécois Canadian painter known for her dynamic abstract works and her significant contributions to post-war modernism. Letendre's family moved to Montreal when she was a child, and it was there that she began exploring her interest in art. She enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montreal but left in 1948 before completing her studies, dissatisfied with the traditional academic approach to artistic training. Letendre’s departure from formal education coincided with the rise of the avant-garde movements in Quebec, particularly Automatism, a spontaneous and expressive style championed by artists like Paul-Émile Borduas and the Les Automatistes group. By the 1960s, Letendre had developed her signature approaches to painting. 

Rita Letendre’s impact on the Canadian and International art cannon cannot be overstated. She was featured in over sixty solo and group exhibitions throughout her life, most notably Rita Letendre: Fire & Light at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2017. 

Letendre’s work is part of many prestigious private and public collections across North America, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée du Quebec, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum at CSU Long Beach, which is home to Letendre’s mural, Sunforces.