At the time of celebrations for the centenary of Jean Paul Riopelle, the Beaux-Arts style building where the scandal of Global denial remains abandoned. Its front doors have been boarded up for years. The former École du Meubles, an imposing Beaux-Arts style building in the heart of Montreal, continues to deteriorate, even though the fate of Paul-Émile Borduas and several major artists, including Riopelle, is closely linked to it.
Paul-Émile Borduas was expelled as a professor in 1948, following the publication of the manifesto Global denialsigned among others by his pupil Riopelle.
The former School of Furniture is one of the most elegant buildings in the Latin Quarter, although an obvious lack of maintenance has tarnished its past luster.
Its exterior walls, made of limestone, do not even have a commemorative plaque to recall the history that played out there and which nevertheless continues to be remembered as one of the highlights of contemporary Quebec.
According to the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), owner of the premises, “this building still has potential for a return to school assets”. Plans for revalorization of the district could integrate it.
However, nothing concrete has been planned for years for the rehabilitation of this building located at the corner of René-Lévesque Boulevard and Berri Street, two of Montreal’s main arteries. “We have no deadline for the occupation of this building, indicates the CSSDM to the To have to. Analyzes are continuing regarding its pedagogical potential. »
“We have carried out security work in order to avoid its deterioration”, affirms the CSSDM to the To have towithout providing further details.
Should we expect, after so many years, that the building will soon be upgraded in one way or another? Again, no clear answer. “Analysis is continuing as to its future use. We are there for now. »
Historical and symbolic value
According to historian Gilles Lapointe, a specialist in the Automatiste movement, the building has “true heritage value” for Quebec. Because it was in this building that Borduas “taught lessons until his dismissal in September 1948. It was therefore in the building on rue Berri that Jean Paul Riopelle, Marcel Barbeau and Maurice Perron studied », among other major figures in the history of art.
Around 1942, the School of Furniture moved to 1097 rue Berri. It is there that Borduas will teach and exercise a deep cultural influence, until the publication of Global denial, a real thunderclap in Duplessis society. Then succeeds him in his functions a young French designer who has just landed in Montreal: Frédéric Back.
Until the implementation of reforms to the education system in the mid-1960s, the École du Meubles, with or without Borduas, trained a few generations of skilled craftsmen and in some cases, even in spite of itself, very high level artists. Like Jean Paul Riopelle.
Abandoned for years
In 2019, Catherine Harel Bourdon, then president of the CSDM, explained to the To have to that certain work should be carried out shortly in this building in order to ensure its conservation. However, nothing was planned to occupy it and bring it back to life. And nothing has changed since.
Three years later, this witness to a high point in the history of contemporary Quebec remains abandoned, although it is located in one of Montreal’s vital centers, one block from the Berri metro station. -UQAM.
A renowned architect
This building is the work of a renowned architect: Jean-Omer Marchand (1872-1936). Between the wars, Marchand was the only Canadian architect to graduate from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His work, which has won several prizes, makes him an unparalleled building craftsman.
We owe Jean-Omer Marchand several other important public constructions. In Montreal, the Grand Séminaire chapel, the Municipal Court building, the Généreux bath, now the Écomusée du fier monde, and the opulent residence of financier Rodolphe Forget, now the Russian consulate, are among many of his accomplishments.
Considered one of the most innovative Canadian architects of the early 20the century, Marchand would also leave his mark by contributing to the design of the central building of the federal parliament in Ottawa. Outside the major centers, it should be noted that we also owe him the construction of Château Beauce, in Sainte-Marie, a building now classified by the State for its heritage importance.