The Multi-Talented Solange Legendre

Solange Legendre  "Self Portrait" 1953 Private Collection

Solange Legendre (1929-2004) was born in Montréal, Canada. Passionately interested in art from an early age, she attended the École des beaux-arts de Montréal from 1947-1952, working most notably with painter Stanley Cosgrove. (You can see the Cosgrove influence in her self-portrait!) She received a study and travel grant from the Québec government which helped fund several years of study in Paris, France, where she lived and worked 1952-1955. While in Paris she studied painting and printmaking, but also branched out into set and costume design, taking classes at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. This course of study was to form the basis of her subsequent career.

On her return to Montréal Legendre was quickly recruited by the Radio-Canada theatrical costume department. Over the course of her long career she worked for numerous prestigious theatre companies and won several national design awards. She was a gifted teacher as well, and taught in well-known institutions including the Conservatoire d’art dramatique, the National Theatre School, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. A collection of her personal papers is held at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.