Rita Letendre

Rita Letendre (1928-2021) RCA

Rita Letendre was a Canadian painter, muralist, and printmaker born in Quebec. Letendre was discovered when she was 19 working at a restaurant and a patron was struck by the quality of the sketches she was working on during the restaurant’s quiet hours. At the patron’s encouragement, Letendre enrolled at the Ecole des beaux-arts de Montreal. Through her arts education, Letendre met noted artist Paul-Emile Borduas, founder of the arts movement Les Automatistes. Later in her career, Letendre was the recipient of the Governor General’s Award and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Letendre’s work is held within the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, among others.