The Art of Revealing: Research
In addition to its collection of artworks, the MAC also holds a number of archival fonds that provide rich testimony to artistic practices, social movements and major moments in the history of art. These holdings, representing 592 boxes of documents totalling almost 100 linear metres, include such treasures as the archives of artists Paul-Émile Borduas and Jean-Paul Mousseau, and of the Centre international d’art contemporain (CIAC). Unfortunately, less than 2% of these documents have yet been digitized. Your support is essential if we are to continue advancing initiatives to process and share these historic documents!
These archives enable us to better understand not only the works themselves, but also the context in which they were created, their influences and their social impact. Texts, correspondence, photographs, sketches and much more reveal new facets of the artists and their times. Thanks to archive processing, digitization and distribution, these sources of information become accessible to all: researchers, students, art enthusiasts. Your support plays a key role in ensuring the protection and preservation of these documents.
The Paul-Émile Borduas archive
One of the key archival fonds held by the MAC is that of artist Paul-Émile Borduas. This impressive collection of documents covers Borduas’s personal and professional life, from the 1920s until his death in 1960. It includes numerous textual documents such as letters, manuscripts, photographs and sketches. The fonds illustrates the artistic and personal evolution of this key player in Quebec art, documenting his master-student relationship with Ozias Leduc, his contribution to the Refus global, and the complex links between the Automatists and Surrealism. The MAC is working to make this collection accessible to all.
Discover the Works and Archives
Discover the artwork and archives
Le Carnaval des objets délaissés (1949)From the exhibition Peintures surrationnelles (1949) to Borduas’s first New York show (1954), these few documents are just a glimpse into the life of Le Carnaval des objets délaissés (1949). This painting made its way into the MAC collection thanks to a generous gift of 55 works by the painter from the Musées nationaux du Canada in 1973. With this donation, the MAC also became the depository of the precious Paul-Émile Borduas fonds.
Credits:
Borduas, Paul Émile
Le Carnaval des objets délaissés, 1949
Don des Musées nationaux du Canada
Collection Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
© Succession Paul-Émile Borduas / Droits d’auteur arts visuels – CARCC, 2024
Photo : Richard-Max Tremblay
Invitation card for the exhibition Peintures surrationnelles. Borduas presented at Guy et Jacques Viau, décorateurs-ensembliers from May 14 to 26, 1949. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
Catalog of the fugitive exhibition by Robert Élie to his friends on December 2, 1950, 1950. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
Catalog of the Paul-Émile Borduas exhibition presented at the Passedoit Gallery (New York) from January 5 to 23, 1954, 1954. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
Discover the artwork and archives
Canada (1951)In the spring of 1951, painter Paul-Émile Borduas invited “his friends, and their friends” to a “surprise” exhibition at his Saint-Hilaire studio. As these pieces from the Paul-Émile Borduas collection attest, the surprise turned out to be an exhibition of paintings, inks and wood sculptures with titles evoking countries such as Japan, Egypt and the United States. Canada (1951), in the MAC collection since 1979, was among the sculptures on show.
Credits:
Borduas, Paul Émile
Canada, 1951
Don de madame Irène Legendre
Collection Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
© Succession Paul-Émile Borduas / Droits d’auteur arts visuels – CARCC, 2024
Photo : Denis Farley
Borduas, Paul-Émile, États-Unis, 1951, Collection Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, © Succession Paul-Émile Borduas / Droits d’auteur arts visuels – CARCC, 2024. Photo : inconnu du MAC, Fonds Paul-Émile Borduas
Invitation to a surprise exhibition by Paul-Émile Borduas from June 2 to 4, 1951 at his studio in Saint-Hilaire, [1951]. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
Invitation to an exhibition of sculptures by Paul-Émile Borduas from June 2 to 4, 1951 at his studio in Saint-Hilaire, [1951]. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
List of works presented at the Paul-Émile Borduas exhibition from June 2 to 4, 1951 at his studio in Saint-Hilaire, [1951]. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
Discover the artwork and archives
Chanteclerc ou No 6 (1942)This set of documents from the Paul-Émile Borduas collection takes us back to 1942, when Chanteclerc ou No 6 (1942), now in the MAC collection, was first exhibited at the Foyer de l’Ermitage. In an article from the time, critic Charles Doyon recounts that it was at this exhibition that this “dishevelled, flamboyant rooster with perimeter red” was spontaneously christened Chanteclerc by French physiologist Henri Laugier (Le Jour, May 2, 1942).
Credits:
Borduas, Paul Émile
Chanteclerc ou Nº 6, 1942
Collection Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
© Succession Paul-Émile Borduas / Droits d’auteur arts visuels – CARCC, 2024
Photo : Richard-Max Tremblay
Paul-Émile Borduas, accompanied by critic Henri Girard, at the opening of the painter’s exhibition at the Hermitage, 1942. Photo: Henri Paul, Fonds Paul-Émile Borduas (MACM)
Invitation card for the Paul-Émile Borduas exhibition at the Foyer de l’Ermitage, 1942. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
List of works at the Paul-Émile Borduas exhibition at the Foyer de l’Ermitage, 1942. Paul-Émile Borduas fonds (MACM)
The Art of Giving
Your donations make possible the immense task of processing the archives, essential to their digital distribution and presentation in the context of a potential exhibition.
These actions not only preserve the original documents by protecting them from the wear and tear of handling, but also reveal unexpected relationships between the works and their history, enriching our understanding of our artistic heritage.