Musée des beaux-arts de Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Virtual Museum of Canada

Eternal Present

«We need to last (...).
Last without hope.
Last in an eternal presence. Why would the past matter?
Why would the future matter as well?
Only the present is eternal!»
Letter from Paul-Émile Borduas to Fernand Leduc, October 22, 1952

Fifty years after the publication of the Refus global manifesto, six of its sixteen signatories met once again in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, a place with which they were once closely linked because of the presence of Paul-Émile Borduas. An exhibition and a companion boxed set, celebrating the work of six artists devoted to the discovery of inner truths and the pursuit of ever-evolving art, presented significant works resulting from their creative quest. Cognizant of the “power of words,” these artists also offered some written reflections on their art, their lives and their preoccupations.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Marcel Barbeau, Marcelle Ferron, Pierre Gauvreau, Fernand Leduc, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Françoise Sullivan for their active participation in the exhibition and their contribution to the boxed set. We would also like to thank Magdeleine Arbour, Bruno Cormier, Claude Gauvreau, Muriel Guilbeault, Thérèse Leduc, Jean-Paul Mousseau, Maurice Perron, Louise Renaud and Françoise Riopelle, who also signed the Refus global manifesto.

Eternal Present (excerpts)
Accessible version

Header image: Eternal Present, detail of the cover. Photo: Luc Bouvrette.

In 1998, the Musée des beaux-arts in Mont-Saint-Hilaire celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of Refus global with an exhibition organized in collaboration with six of the sixteen artists who signed the manifesto. Their work from both the Automatist period and more recent times was brought together for this event. For the occasion, the museum published a boxed art set reproducing the format used to present Refus global. In it, each of the six artists offered a work of art and a short text reflecting on their art, life and preoccupations, in homage to Paul-Émile Borduas, the man who so influenced their way of thinking. This boxed set testifies to the progress made since 1948 and underlines the importance of the manifesto’s publication in Québec history. Here is an interactive version.

Marcel Barbeau
Collage, 1998
paper on cardboard

Marcelle Ferron
Untitled, 1998
oil on cardboard

Pierre Gauvreau
You cannot arm wrestle the truth,
February 1998
acrylic on cardboard

Fernand Leduc
Meeting-alliance, 1998
oil pastel on Arches paper

Françoise Sullivan
Red, March 1998
dry pastel on paper