Province of Manitoba » Culture Heritage, Tourism and Sport » Historic Resources » People, Places and Events » Manitobans Who Made a Difference » Difference Makers » Pauline (LeGoff) Boutal

Manitobans Who Made a Difference

(Photo source: St. Boniface Historical Society).

Painter, art teacher, performing artist, and designer of both costumes and sets, Pauline Boutal was also the artistic director of the St. Boniface Franco-Manitoban theatrical group, Le Cercle Molière, from 1941-68.

LeGoff was born in Brest, Brittany, France, and immigrated to Manitoba with her family in 1907, settling first on Lake Manitoba, and later in St. Boniface. From an artistic family, she learned to draw in childhood, and worked as a typographer at the St. Boniface newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, where she met her future husband, Arthur Boutal, and then at Le Soleil de l'Ouest Printing and Publishing Company Limited in Winnipeg. In 1916, LeGoff left Manitoba to marry Boutal, who was then on active duty in the Canadian military, in France. In 1918, the couple moved to St. Boniface where Pauline Boutal joined Brigdens of Winnipeg Limited, a firm specializing in photography and photo engraving. Employed as a commercial fashion artist, she was given responsibility for the T. Eaton Company catalogue, at a time when all clothes and other items for sale in the catalogue were drawn by artists.

The Boutals joined Le Cercle Molière at its founding in 1925, working as technicians, actors, and directors, and becoming responsible for most of the group's design work in sets and costumes. Through much of the 1920s and 1930s, Arthur Boutal was the manager of La Liberté Printers, and the Boutals lived on Horace Street in Norwood (St. Boniface). Following her husband's death in 1941, Pauline Boutal resigned from Brigden's in order to succeed him as artistic director of Le Cercle Molière. She took a particular interest in training young actors and directors.

Boutal became a Canadian citizen in 1941. During World War II, in addition to her job with Le Cercle Molière, Boutal engaged in Red Cross work and painted pastels, nudes, and portraits. A graduate of the School of Fine Arts in Winnipeg, in 1946 she studied art at the George Elmer Browne School of Fine Arts at Cape Cod, and in 1948-49 in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumière with Charles Picart-Ledoux and Yves Brayer, and, for a few months, with André Chote. As well as working as a fashion artist in Paris, Boutal completed portraits and landscapes, which now decorate many public buildings and private homes. In 1950, she designed sets and costumes for the Winnipeg Ballet's Christmas production of "The Rose and the Ring".

Boutal directed about 30 Cercle Molière productions between 1928-64, taking several on Western Canadian tours. The group frequently participated in national festivals, winning numerous awards, including two for best director (Boutal). Boutal was a life member of Le Cercle Molière, and a member of the National Drama Festival Board of Governors, the Societé des Artistes of Manitoba, and the St. Boniface Historical Society.

Boutal was the recipient of many honours, including the "Woman of the Year" award in 1962 from the Women's Advertising and Sales Club of Winnipeg, and, for her work in art and drama and services rendered to French culture in general, Les Palmes Academiques and La Médaille de la Reconnaissance Française from the Government of France. She was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1973, was awarded an honourary degree by the University of Manitoba in 1978, and was inducted by the Government of Québec in 1981 into l'Ordre des francophones d'Amérique. The French Language Council of Québec in 1981 awarded Le Cercle Molière a grant to establish an annual theatre scholarship in honour of Boutal.

The Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain in St. Boniface has inducted Boutal into its Hall of Fame. She is commemorated via a plaque and by the designation of the performing arts theatre as the "Salle Pauline Boutal". Many of Boutal's paintings and drawings, frequently exhibited in the building from the time that it opened in January, 1974, are still on display.