In the first part of the twentieth century, few women in western Canada had careers as visual artists. Pauline Boutal had three and left an important legacy of portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and illustrations, as well as theatre sets and costume designs. Born in Brittany in 1894, Boutal painted in a traditional style and trained at the Winnipeg School of Art, the Cape Cod School of Art, and l'Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, France. This English translation of Louise Duguay's award-winningPauline Boutal: An Artist's Destiny, 1894–1992 shares the story of an important artist who lived an exceptional life.
Today a great number of Boutal's works can be found in major private and corporate collections. Like many of her contemporaries, Boutal had parallel careers in both visual art and graphic art that contributed to the development of Canadian art. For her contribution to the francophone cultural scene, Boutal was awarded numerous prestigious prizes, including the Order of Canada. In addition to thousands of sketches, illustrations, and paintings, Boutal also left a rich legacy of letters, speeches and interviews. Drawing on these sources, Louise Duguay has created a work that honors the best of biography and autobiography.
