Born: 29 January 1924, in Louiseville (Mauricie)
Died: 19 November 2001, in Montreal

One of the most important of twentieth century Quebec artists, Marcelle Ferron arrived in Montreal in the 1940s after having been expelled from the École des beaux-arts de Québec after a dispute with a professor. In Montreal she met Paul-Émile Borduas, and became an ardent follower of the artistic and political ideals of the Automatistes. She signed the famous manifesto Refus global in 1948.

In 1953 she moved to Paris with her three daughters; during her thirteen years there, she participated in several exhibitions, her artwork rose to prominence, and she learned the art of stained glass from master glazier Michel Blum. She also became one of the first women to win a silver medal at the São Paulo Biennial.

She was uncompromising in her political views, often to her sorrow: her association with an activist working against the Franco regime in Spain caused her to be expelled from France. After returning to Quebec in 1966 and taking a professorship at Laval University, she continued her work both in Automatist art and in left-wing politics. Her dispute with metro art director Robert LaPalme over her stained-glass window project at Champ-de-Mars paved the way for non-representational art in the metro. Today, her work at Champ-de-Mars is widely recognized as one of her masterpieces. She also designed a number of important stained glass windows for public buildings in Quebec, many of them for the 1% program.

Her many awards included grants from the Conseil des arts in 1958 and 1972; the Prix Philippe-Hébert from the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society in 1977; the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas in 1983, the first woman to receive this honour; and nomination to the Ordre du Québec as a Chevalier in 1985 and a Grand Officer in 2000. After her death, she was honoured with a number of Quebec streets being named for her, including one in the Tétreaultville area of the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in 2005.

"My aim has always been modest; I wanted to transform the arranged marriage [of art and architecture] into a love match."

— Marcelle Ferron

Works:

Works in the metro:
Stained-glass windows	Champ-de-Mars
Stained-glass window and sculpture	Vendôme
Other works:
• In Montreal:
Lark Mirror	ICAO Building, Ville-Marie
Permanent Memorial to the Six Million Jewish Martyrs of the Nazi Holocaust	Samuel Bronfman Building, Concordia University, Ville-Marie
Soleil de nuit	Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
Stained-glass window	Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Ville-Marie
Stained-glass window	Résidence Dorchester
Stained-glass window	Résidence Mance-Décary, Sud-Ouest
Stained-glass window	École primaire Notre-Dame-de-Fatima, Rivière-des-Prairies
• In Quebec:
Stained-glass window	Palais de justice, Amos (Abitibi-Témiscamingue)
Le bateau and L'enfant	École primaire Au-Point-du-Jour, L'Assomption (Lanaudière)
Sculpture	Centre d'accueil Marcelle-Ferron, Brossard
Stained-glass window	Place du Portage, Gatineau
Stained-glass window	Palais de justice de Granby, Granby (Montérégie)
Mobile	CLSC-CHSLD du Marigot, Laval
Stained-glass window	Centre hospitalier Pierre-Boucher, Longueuil
Stained-glass window	Église du Sacré-Coeur, Quebec City
Stained-glass window	École primaire Evergreen, Saint-Lazare (Montérégie)
Stained-glass window	Bishop's University, Sherbrooke
Stained-glass windows	CHRTR, Pavillon Sainte-Marie, Trois-Rivières
Stained-glass windows	Palais de justice, Val-d'Or

External Links: