Rita Letendre

Rita Letendre was a trailblazing Canadian painter whose bold abstractions electrified the postwar art scene. Of Abenaki and Québécois heritage, she emerged from the Automatistes and Plasticiens movements before forging her own path with a fiercely personal and dynamic style.

Her paintings are marked by powerful diagonals, blazing colors, and energetic brushstrokes, often evoking cosmic movement and raw emotion. In the 1970s, she embraced hard-edge abstraction and airbrush techniques, creating luminous, radiant works that remain instantly recognizable.

Letendre’s work is celebrated in major collections across Canada and internationally, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, cementing her place among the most important Canadian modernists.