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BOUTAL, Pauline
- Born
- Lanhouarneau, Brittany, 1894
- Died
- St. Boniface, Manitoba, 1992
- Biography synopsis
- Pauline Boutal (nee Le Goff) immigrated to Canada from Brittany in 1907. Her family settled in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, where she took art lessons, and also did artistic work and typesetting for newspapers "Le Nouvelliste,"as well as "Le Soleil de L'Ouest." After the First World War, Boutal took art lessons in the evenings at the Winnipeg School of Art, and was employed as a fashion artist by Brigden's of Winnipeg, working predominately on the western issue of Eaton's catalogue. In 1925, Boutal and her husband Arthur became active in the Cercle Moliere theatre company. Arthur Boutal went on to become the company's director, while Pauline Boutal became an accomplished actor. Following her husband's death in 1941, Boutal took over the directorship of the Cercle Moliere theatre where she would design the sets and costumes. In the same year she also left commercial art to concentrate on landscape and portrait painting. Following a trip to France where she studied under Andre Lhote and at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, Boutal received painting commissions for Saint-Boniface city hall and the Manitoba legislature. Boutal received numerous awards and honours for her contributions to French Canadian culture, including the Order of Canada, an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Manitoba in 1978, as well as l'Ordre des francophones d'Amerique from Quebec City in 1981. Her works were exhibited annually from 1932 to 1975 with the Manitoba Society of Artists, in various group shows at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and in four solo exhibitions at the Centre Cultural franco-manitobain in Saint-Boniface.
- Media used
- Costume design
- Fashion design
- Painting
- Pastels
- Theatre design
- Education
- Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris (under Charles Picart-Ledoux)
- Private study (under George E. Browne and Henry Hensche)
- Private study (under André Lhote)
- Winnipeg School of Art (under Lionel Lemoine Fitzgerald and Franz Johnston)
- File & Archive locations
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- London Public Library, ON
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- Toronto Reference Library, ON
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- University of Manitoba - Architecture and Fine Arts Library
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- Société Historique de Saint-Boniface, QC
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- Archives of Manitoba
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- Boutal - Paysages et Batiments: 1947 a 1978. Saint-Boniface, Manitoba: Centre Culturel franco-manitobain, 27 Jan. to 21 Feb., 1982
- "Winnipeg Artist Designs Children's Ballet Costumes." Winnipeg Free Press 2 Dec. 1950
- Baker, Marilyn. The Winnipeg School of Art: The Early Years Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1984
- Duguay, Louise. Pauline Boutal : destin d'artiste, 1894-1992. Saint-Boniface, MB: Éditions du Blé, 2008
- Duguay, Louise. Pauline Boutal: An Artist's Destiny, 1894-1992. Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press, 2015
- Duguay, Louise Germaine. Pauline Le Goff Boutal (1894--1992): Illustratrice et artiste peintre. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba, 1999
- Gibbons, Lillian. "Three City Artists Explain, Show Works." Winnipeg Tribune 28 Sept. 1950
- Hebert, Monique. "1895-1992, Pauline Boutal: une vie consacree a l'art." Femmes d'Action 22. 1 (Sept-Oct. 1992): 8-10
- Johnson, Sandra. "Art and Artists." Winnipeg Free Press 11 Sept. 1971
- Knelman, Martin. "La survie d'un théâtre." Revue de l'Impériale 81 (Winter 1997): 12-17
- McCarthy, Grace. "People: John Young recently talked to eight unusual Canadians..." The Times 24 Feb. 1972: IV
- Roy, Gabrielle. Chapeau bas; reminiscences de la vie theatrale et musicale du Manitoba francais. Saint-Boniface: Editions du Ble, 1980
- Ruttan, Susan. "At 80, Madame Boutal still a working artist." The Tribune (Winnipeg) 24 Jul. 1976
- Taylor, Kate. "The miracle of Cercle Moliere LOCAL HERO / Roland Mahe runs the oldest francophone theatre in the country, and it's in Manitoba, not Quebec." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 9 Mar. 1996: C1
- The Winnipeg Art Gallery. Images of Woman: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, November 14, 1975 to January 4th, 1976. Winnipeg, Manitoba: 1976
