Sullivan rapidly gained recognition in Quebec, across Canada, and abroad. She has been widely written about and her own writings and the interviews she has given provide insight into her artistic process.
Key Exhibitions
Sullivan’s works have been exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Europe. This selection does not include myriad small shows she participated in during her career, nor the public presentations of her choreographies and performance art.
Selected Group Exhibitions
1943
Les Sagittaires, Dominion Gallery, Montreal.
1963
Concours artistique de la Province de Québec, École des beaux-arts, Montreal.
1965
Confrontation ’65, Association des sculpteurs du Québec, Montreal.
1966
Salon de la jeune peinture, Musée Rodin, Paris.
1967
III Mostra Internazionale di Scultura, Pagani Foundation, Italy.
1970
Panorama de la sculpture au Québec, 1945–1970, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
1972
Borduas et les Automatistes: 1942–1955, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal et Grand Palais, Paris.
1976
Corridart, Sherbrooke Street, Montreal.
1977
Françoise Sullivan/David Moore, Véhicule Art, Montreal.
1978
Les Automatistes, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
1980
La révolution Automatiste, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
1992
La crise de l’abstraction au Canada: Les années 1950/The Crisis of Abstraction: The 1950s, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City, and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
1998
L’époque Automatiste, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
Refus global (1948): Le manifeste du mouvement Automatiste, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris.
1999
Déclics art et société: Le Québec des années 60 et 70, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
2001
Corridart revisité: 25 ans plus tard/Corridart Revisited: 25 Years Later, Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal.
2002
Place à la magie: Les années 40, 50 et 60 au Québec, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
2005
Les années 60 au Canada/The Sixties in Canada, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
2010
On Line: Drawing through the Twentieth Century, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Automatiste Revolution: Montreal, 1941–1960, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo.
2012
Trafic: L’art conceptuel au Canada, 1965–1980/Traffic Conceptual Art in Canada, 1965–1980, Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1964
Sculptures, Galerie du Siècle, Montreal.
1978
Danse dans la neige, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
1981
Françoise Sullivan: Rétrospective, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
1993
Françoise Sullivan, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City.
2003
Françoise Sullivan (réstrospective), Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.
2008
Françoise Sullivan, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
2016
Françoise Sullivan: Hommage à la peinture, Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec.
2017
Françoise Sullivan: Trajectoires resplendissantes, Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal.
Selected Writings by the Artist
Sullivan wrote periodically about the artistic developments that marked the twentieth century. Her texts reveal the influences that shaped her artistic practice and provide insight into her process.
“La peinture féminine.” Le Quartier Latin, November 17, 1943, viii.
“La danse et l’espoir.” In Refus global, edited by Paul-Émile Borduas et al., n.p. Saint-Hilaire: Éditions Myrtha Mythe, 1948.
“Sans titre.” In Françoise Sullivan/David Moore, n.p. Montreal, Véhicule Art, 1977.
“Je précise.” In Danse dans la neige, n.p. Montreal: Image Ouareau, 1977.
“Dance and Hope.” In Paul-Émile Borduas et al., Total Refusal: The Complete 1948 Manifesto of the Montreal Automatists, translated and introduced by Ray Ellenwood. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1985.
“La place de l’œuvre d’art.” In “1948 Refus global: 1998 Refus Total.” L’action nationale 88, no. 7 (1998): 62–63.
“Salut Zarathoustra.” Liberté 43, no. 254 (2001): 164–67.
Talks by the Artist
1975: “Minimalisme,” conference presented at Université du Québec à Montréal.
“L’art conceptuel,” conference presented at Université du Québec à Montréal.
1993: “Untitled,” conference presented in the context of the exhibition The Crisis of Abstraction in Canada: The 1950s, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
2004: “Goodbye Monsieur Duchamp,” conference at the Royal Society of Canada, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Selected Critical Writings on the Artist’s Work
As Sullivan’s recognition as an important Canadian artist continues to grow, so does the breadth of scholarship and the number of critical reviews interpreting and documenting her work.
Allaire, Serge. Françoise Sullivan: Paintings 2007. Montreal: Éditions Simon Blais, 2008.
Aquin, Stéphane. Françoise Sullivan. Exhibition catalogue, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. Montreal: Éditions Parachute, 2003.
Arbour, Rose-Marie. “Nouvelles pratiques sculpturales: Yvette Bisson, Françoise Sullivan.” Espace: Art actuel, no. 25 (1993): 17–21.
Bénichou, Anne. “Reperformance and Transhistoricity: The Danse[s] dans la neige by Françoise Sullivan and by Luis Jacob.” Performance Research 21, no. 5 (2016): 21–34.
Bradley, Paul (dir.). Françoise Sullivan—Hommage à la peinture. Baie-Saint-Paul, QC: Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, 2016.
Côté, Mario. “Recréer Danse dans la neige/Re-creating Danse dans la neige.” Ciel variable, no. 86 (2010): 32–39.
Daigneault, Gilles. “Sullivan Danse Dessin.” Liberté 43, no. 4 (2001): 115–18.
Déry, Louise. Françoise Sullivan. Exhibition catalogue. Quebec City: Musée du Québec, 1993.
———. Les saisons Sullivan/The Seasons of Sullivan. Montreal: Galerie de l’UQAM, 2010.
———, Radiant Trajectories/Trajectoires resplendissantes. Exhibition catalogue. Montreal: Galerie de l’UQAM, 2017.
Gosselin, Claude. Françoise Sullivan: Rétrospective. Exhibition catalogue. Montreal: Musée d’art contemporain, 1981.
———. “Le Cycle Crétois de Françoise Sullivan.” Vie des Arts 29, no. 118 (1985): 34–35.
Lehmann, Henry. “Françoise Sullivan.” Vie des Arts 20, no. 78 (Spring 1975): 28–29.
Lindgren, Allana. From Automatism to Modern Dance: Françoise Sullivan with Franziska Boas in New York. Toronto: Dance Collection Danse Press/es, 2003.
———. “Rethinking Automatist Interdisciplinarity: The Relationship between Dance and Music in the Early Choreographic Works of Jeanne Renaud and Françoise Sullivan, 1948–1950.” Circuit: Musiques contemporaines 21, no. 3 (2011): 39–53.
Lungu, Florentina. “L’oeuvre de Françoise Sullivan sous le signe de l’archétype.” ETC, no. 64 (2003–04): 34–37.
Rannou, Pierre. “Les promenades de Françoise Sullivan.” Esse, no. 54 (Spring/Summer 2005): 26-31.
Saint-Gelais, Thérèse. “Françoise Sullivan.” Protée 26, no. 3 (1998): 65–67.
Key Interviews with the Artist
Biron, Normand. “Françoise Sullivan et les rythmes profonds de la nature.” Vie des Arts 32, no. 127 (June 1987): 59 and 75.
Blois, Michel, and Alexandre Motulsky-Falardeau. “Quand la peinture et la danse ne font qu’une.” Être artiste: Entretiens avec Madeleine Arbour, Francine Simonin, Paul Lacroix, Jean-Pierre Morin, Michel Goulet, Françoise Sullivan, René Derouin et Marcel Barbeau, 64–69. Quebec City: L’Instant même, 2015.
Enright, Robert. “A Woman for All Seasons: An Interview with Françoise Sullivan.” Border Crossings 27, no. 2 (June 2008): 48–61.
Lasnier, Michelle. “Les femmes peintres du Québec.” Châtelaine, October 1962, 102.
Toupin, Gilles. “La nostalgie de l’art.” La Presse (Montreal), January 13, 1973, D-14.
Tsanaktsis, Rena. “Unique Gestures in Time.” Bulletin de l’Institut Simone de Beauvoir 14 (1994): 11–12.
Audio
Art Gallery of Ontario. “Françoise Sullivan in Conversation with Robert Enright.” Art Matter Blog, March 18, 2010, online resource, http://artmatters.ca/wp/2010/03/francoise-sullivan-in-conversation-with-robert-enright-audio/.
MoMA Multimedia. “Françoise Sullivan, Danse dans la neige (Dancing in the Snow).” No. 1–17, 1948, 2010, online audio archive, http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/244/2442.
CBC Player. “Françoise Sullivan: Her Art and the Music She Loves.” January 7, 2017, online audio archive.
CBC Listen. “At 93, Pioneering Avant-Garde Artist Françoise Sullivan Paints Every Day and Lives in the Present.” February 12, 2017, online audio archive, http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/sunday-edition/segment/11646868.
Video
Art Gallery of Ontario. “Françoise Sullivan on Danse dans la neige,” Prizewinning Art by Françoise Sullivan, 2010, online resource, http://www.ago.net/prizewinning-art-by-francoise-sullivan.
Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art. “Les Automatistes.” Video Portraits, Françoise Sullivan, 2008, online resource, http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/fs_automatistes.html.
———. “Beaux-arts.” Video Portraits, Françoise Sullivan, 2008, online resource, http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/fs_beauxArts.html.
———. “Danse dans la neige.” Video Portraits, Françoise Sullivan, 2008, online resource, http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/fs_danse.html.
———. “Dance.” Video Portraits, Françoise Sullivan, 2008, online resource, http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/fs_dance.html.
———. “Process.” Video Portraits, Françoise Sullivan, 2008, online resource, http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/fs_process.html.
———. “Homage.” Video Portraits, Françoise Sullivan, 2008, online resource, http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/fs_homage.html.
La Fabrique Culturelle. “Françoise Sullivan: L’art avec un grand A,” Arts Visuels et numériques, 2016, online resource, http://www.lafabriqueculturelle.tv/capsules/7970/francoise-sullivan-l-art-avec-un-grand-a.
———. “Une artiste, une oeuvre: Françoise Sullivan.” Arts Visuels et numériques, 2016, online resource, http://www.lafabriqueculturelle.tv/capsules/7672/un-artiste-une-oeuvre-francoise-sullivan.
Further Reading
Arbour, Rose-Marie. “Identification de l’avant-garde et identité de l’artiste: Les femmes et le groupe automatiste au Québec (1941–1948).” RACAR 21, 1–2 (1994): 7–21.
Couture, Francine. Les arts visuels au Québec dans les années soixantes, Tome II: L’Éclatement du modernisme. Montreal: VLB Éditeur, 1997.
Ellenwood, Ray. Egregore: The Montréal Automatist Movement. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1992.
Lapointe, Gilles. La comète automatiste. Montreal: Fides, 2008.
Linteau, Paul-André. Histoire du Québec contemporain: Le Québec depuis 1930. Montreal: Boréal, 1986.
Smart, Patricia. Les femmes du Refus Global. Montreal: Boréal, 1998.
Tembeck, Iro. Danser à Montréal: Germination d’une histoire chorégraphique. Sillery, QC: Les Presses de l’Université du Québec, 1991.
Vigneault, Louise. Identité et modernité dans l’art au Québec: Borduas, Sullivan, Riopelle. Montreal: Éditions Hurtubise HMH, 2002.
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