The Québec Automatistes were a groundbreaking group of artists and intellectuals founded in the early 1940s in Montreal by painter Paul-Émile Borduas. The publishing of the group manifesto, “Refus Global” in 1948 launched a glory age of unique and original creative output in Montreal. Influenced by surrealism, they embraced spontaneous, subconscious creation in art—a method known as automatism. The group challenged prevailing cultural and artistic norms, advocating for creative and social freedom. The Refus Global manifesto in 1948 became a touchstone for artistic and political change in Quebec. The Automatistes consistently rank as the most important and innovative post-war painters in Canadian Art and are coveted, collected and celebrated in public and private collections across the country and internationally.

While not a signatory of the Refus Global, the early works of Rita Letendre reflect the influence of, and embody many of the Automatistes methods.