Leeward of the Island or 1.47 (Sous le vent de l’île ou 1.47), 1947

In Borduas’s early abstract paintings, objects more or less float—or are suspended, as in Leeward of the Island—in space above a flatly painted background. To emphasize their shape and contrast them against what was below, Borduas used a palette knife. This gives the objects a “mineral” character. Cliffs, the mountain faces at Saint-Hilaire, rocks, sea ice, even glacial features are reflected in his titles. This icon of the Automatiste movement made Borduas a household name in Canada.