Rita Letendre
(1928 - 2021) RCA
Previously Sold Works
RITA LETENDRE
Sans titre, 1972
acrylic on board
7.5 x 15 in ( 19.1 x 38.1 cm )
Auction Estimate: $5,000.00 - $7,000.00
Price Realized $9,000.00
Sale date: May 28th 2025
RITA LETENDRE
Le rêve d’ondine, 1953
oil on card
signed, titled and dated 1953 on the reverse
5.5 x 5.5 ins ( 14 x 14 cms )
Auction Estimate: $4,000.00 - $6,000.00
Price Realized $4,956.00
Sale date: November 19th 2019
RITA LETENDRE
Serie B, No. 2 (FH-22P)
casein on paper
signed and dated 1962 lower right
13 x 16 ins ( 33 x 40.6 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $2,500.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $3,680.00
Sale date: May 25th 2017
RITA LETENDRE
Electric Storm
acrylic on canvas
signed and dated 1981 lower right; signed, titled and dated on the reverse, unframed
42 x 108 ins ( 106.7 x 274.3 cms )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $10,000.00
Sale date: November 29th 2013
RITA LETENDRE
Sans Titre
silkscreen
signed and numbered 176/250
24.75 x 21.75 ins ( 62.9 x 55.2 cms )
Consignments
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Rita Letendre Biography
(1928 - 2021) RCA
Canadian painter, muralist, and printmaker Rita Letendre was born in Drummondville, Quebec, in 1928. She is of Iroquois descent. Letendre and her parents moved to Montreal in 1941. She settled in Toronto in 1963. In part, Letendre is self-taught but she studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montreal for year and a half. While in school she was introduced to the Automatistes due to pamphlets announcing the locations of their new paintings.
Encouraged by Borduas, Mosseau, and Ferron’s art, Letendre began exploring similar motifs in her paintings and began exhibiting with the group from 1952-55. In 1955 she exhibited in “Espace 1955” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Sharing a studio with fellow Automatiste painter and sculptor, Ulysse Comtois, Letendre became the subject of an article by the Weekend Magazine on non-objective Montreal-based painters. Then, in 1959, Letendre was included in the Third Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Art. In the following year the National Gallery of Canada included Letendre in their Non-Figurative Artists of Montreal exhibit that traveled throughout Canada. In 1962, Letendre received a travelling grant from the Canada Council and traveled to Paris, Italy, Israel, Spain, Belgium, and Germany.
Using a variety of techniques and media such as brush, spatula, pastel, silkscreen, and airbrush, Letendre was a leading member of the colourist movement. Exhibited in over sixty-five solo exhibitions, Letendre’s work can be described in three distinct periods. Her first period, known as the Montreal years, was inspired by her first meeting with Borduas and was a rich exploration of self-discovery. Letendre’s second period was inspired by Russian-born sculptor Kosso Eloul, who later became her husband. Her final period was rooted in mourning and love.
Letendre’s works vary in size from grand murals that are sixty feet by sixty feet in size to small projects on silkscreen. These works are collected throughout the North American continent by governments and public and private galleries and organizations. Letendre’s work has been exhibited in Europe, Israel, Japan, and throughout North America in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Literature Sources:
"A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979
Roumanes, Jacques-Bernard. “Rita Letendre: Le tableau ivre.” Vie des Arts 45, 183, 2001
Andersen, Marguerite. “Rita Letendre: Énergie et luminosité. L’art du féminin, 12 2004
We extend our thanks to Danie Klein, York University graduate student in art history, for writing and contributing this artist biography.
