Introduction
Unlike other continents visual and performing arts in Europe and the western countries is treated with the utmost respect it requires. In the past centuries especially in Africa visual and performing arts was treated as an indulgence of the failures. However with its much success in the western countries and Europe visual and performing arts has now become a way of life. As a matter of fact most of the famous and successful people especially in the 21st century are those involved with arts.
Arts in general refer to the imaginative, creative and nonscientific branches of knowledge. When an audience appreciates an object or a performance that has been exhilaratingly put together by the artist then we say that art has been created.
Art is a universal discipline that has been used to bring people from different walks of life together. It includes a range of disciplines like fine arts, visual arts, decorative arts, applied arts, Liberal arts and performing arts among others. For this research paper we will specialize more with the visual and performing arts.
In performing arts, the artist uses their own body, face and personal presence as a medium to pass on information. In Canada however the male artists have been highlighted and praised more as compared to their female counterparts. Nonetheless this is not a Canadian phenomenon only but a concept that is worldwide. Women achievements are not treated with much consideration as those of men. To bring out some of the renowned talent in Canada though rarely celebrated, this article will be based on the life, challenges and success of two Canadian female artists whose careers have grown in leaps and bounds to reach the global stardom.
How many Canadian artists do we know? The question might seem irrelevant but it is out to gauge our knowledge on international artists. It is a common occurrence universally whereby artists do not succeed in their birth country which leads them to migrate and try other greener pastures especially in the United States of America. The case was not any different with these two Quebec born female artists, Marcelle Ferron and Celine Dion. Though the two represent two different generations their personal history is worth of recognition as it inspires young upcoming artists’ especially female artists who have to fight their way up in this male dominated field.
Early life of Marcelle Ferron
Marcelle Ferron was born in 1924 into a middle class family living in Louisville. Her mother passed away in 1931 when she was just seven years old. This prompted her father to move his family of live in Quebec from Louisville. He believed that the country life was more conducive for healthy growth of his children than the urban life.
Ferron senior was a trained lawyer and as such, he was keen on having his children receive the best education albeit in a liberal way. This, coupled with the rural fresh air, Ferron and her siblings all developed a liberal attitude that made them independent people involved in the transformation of Quebec society in the 1940’s (Women Artists in Canada, par.2).
Her life can be considered to be that of struggle from a very tender age. When she was only three years old she suffered from osseous tuberculosis, a condition that saw her hospitalized for a while. However to her, this was a life changing experience as it is from here that she developed all her important values that saw her through her challenging life as a female artist (Women Artists in Canada, par.4). She had learnt the very important lesson, one of valuing the little things in life and more importantly the gift of life. Unlike common occurrence her illness transformed her both physically and intellectually. She lived one day at a time, appreciating every second she was alive. Moreso she learnt to be strong and fought for the rights of women and was straight forward in her approaches about life.
Career journey of Ferron
Marcelle Ferron did not complete her college education after being frustrated with her teacher’s answers on modern art. Her independent spirit encouraged her to do it on her own and search for the answers she needed elsewhere. After a few years of experimentation, she met Paul-Emile Borduas, who later became her mentor. She learnt the basics of “Automatiste” painting from him.
With time, Ferron succeeded in creating a style of painting that was unique to her. Through this she could communicate her innermost feelings and her outlook of life. In 1946, Marcelle joined the Automatistes; a radical movement that was chaired by her mentor Borduas. This movement had published a controversial document called the Refus Global Manifesto in 1948 of which Marcelle was one of the youngest signatories to it.
She held her first exhibition ever at the Libraire Tranquille. Years later she held the second exhibition alongside her friend Jean-Paul Mousseau. By now she had started gaining recognition in the art world and by the time Automatiste group was disintegrating, Marcelle decided to look for greener pastures and this saw her move to France. For the thirteen years she lived in France, Marcelle had rented a house in Clamart which doubled as a studio. Her outgoing and straightforward character ensured that she got the attention of gallery owners and influential people such as Herta Wescher. It was Herta who assisted her with her overseas exhibitions especially in Europe.
Her outgoing nature worked well for her in France as she managed to interact with other renowned artists who had either settled in France or those who were passing by on their way to other countries. Some of the renowned artists she established contact with were Leon Bellfler., Charles Delloy among others.
However her life took a drastic turn when she met glass maker Michel Blum in 1963. Between 1963 and 1965, Marcelle travelled from Clamart to Blum’s Paris studio. During this period she made a large number of experimental panels. She later selected twenty five of those she considered the best to exhibit in Montreal (Lambton 24). During the period after, she worked with St Hyacinthe a Superseal Seal Company where she invented many models of glass used in architecture. Ferron went back to painting in 1985 and it dawned upon her that the break from painting was actually worthwhile as it had enriched her artistic skills.
Achievements of Ferron
Her first major achievement was a Mural for Expo 67. However her initial public commission on stained glass took place in June 1998 when she created panels for Champ De Mars Metro Station. This made her an icon in Quebec and a force to reckon with in the architectural world. Several public buildings, churches, government buildings are embellished with her glasswork. Most notable of her works include the Granby courthouse and the hospital at Trios-Rivieres.
In 1983, Ferron became the first woman ever to receive the Prix Paul Emille Borduas Award. Despite the pride she felt, she did not allow this experience to overshadow her future plans.
She had become so successful such that everyone was proud of her including the Quebecan government. In recognition of her exemplary contribution to art, the Quebecan government was conferred with the title of a Grand Officer. To crown it all Marcelle became the first woman from Quebec to win a silver medal at the Sao Paolo Biennial in Brazil.
Challenges that undermined her career
Her major challenge can be termed as her battle to be recognized in the society. The Quebec society of the 1950’s valued the role of housewife and mother as more important for a woman as compared to career progression (Lambton 20).
Unlike the support she received from her family members, her husband perennial antagonism was something that weighed her down. This led to a fierce battle for her kids’ custody which she succeeded in 1953.
Another major challenge that dragged behind the artists of Canada was the negative attitude people had especially the media. In 1957 a Canadian newspaper called the Canadian Art published an article that did not portray the true picture of her art. Being the straightforward woman she was she wrote a letter addressed to Donald Buchanan, editor of the Canadian art and included an impressive list of her exhibitions in France, Canada and the U.S (Lambton 21).
Early life of Celine Dion
Hers can only be termed as a rise to stardom from humble beginnings. Born on 30 March 1968 in Charlemagne, a rural French town in Quebec Canada, Celine was the lastborn in a family of fourteen children. Apparently their whole family was musically talented. The music talent ran in the family with the parents’ being musicians themselves. As a matter of fact they owned a small club which they used as an entertainment joint. The whole family would entertain clients every weekend. By the time Celine was barely five she had developed the courage to perform on stage through years of experience. By now, Dion was already performing live in the company of her siblings. At the age of twelve years Celine recorded her maiden single alongside her mother and brother.
In January 1981, René was moved by the strong vocals of young Celine that he endeavored to make her a global artist. To show his commitment to make this happen René mortgaged his house to raise enough funds to record Celine’s debut album. Celine introduced French music to Britain with her album ’Deux ‘topping the charts for some time.
Career Progression
Besides early recordings which were mainly done in French Celine’s international breakthrough came when she released her first English language album, “Unison” and her first for Sony Music in September, 1990 (The Journey So Far par.2).
After this, Celine endeavored to work with renowned musicians who would assist her in her career progression. Unison hit the right notes with critics (Canadian content par.3). The album was described as “a fine, sophisticated American debut” by a member of the All Music Guide, Stephen Thomas Erlwine. Another member of the Entertainment Weekly, Jim Faber regarded the album as tastefully adorned and therefore a relief. He praised Celine for sticking to her range and not attempting to bring off styles that were beyond her. There are a number of singles in the album that became an instant hit. Among these popular hits by Celine Dion in the album include “The Last to Know” (The Journey So Far, par 4). Celine’s music was a combination of various genres probably the reason her songs were widely accepted by her audience. From pop to rock to gospel tunes, all formed part of her rhythms. But these withstanding her vocal talents were exemplary.
The album “Falling into You” that Celine Dion released in 1996 came at a time when the singer was enjoying the best limelight ever. This album was a collaboration of Foster, Aldo Nova, Warren, and Celine Dion herself. This successful collaboration is a further indication of the extent to which Celine Dion had managed to tremendous progress in the music industry. In order to reach a wider audience Celine encompassed many elements in this album; ornate orchestral frills and African enchanting (Canadian Content par.4). To bring some modernity into her music, Celine used the Spanish guitar and saxophone which ensured that her music blended well with her audience.
Each single in this album featured a variety of musical styles; this brought out the prowess that Celine Dion is. Most of the songs in this album were a remake of original songs done by other artists. Tina Turner is credited with the original lyrics to the title track of Celine Dion’s album “River Deep Mountain High”. However, Dion managed to present it somewhat differently by way of making use of percussion instruments. In most of the other songs contained in the album, Celine DIon manages to integrate the sounds of a piano with the atmosphere of soft rock. Also in the album was the song “Because You Loved Me” originally done by Dianne Warren. This song proved to be a real success as it managed t o rise to the top of the Canadian musical charts. The impact of this song was even more profound. For example, in the United States, the song was at the top of (Canadian Content par. 5).
In 1999, Celine took a temporary break from entertainment. This was the year her husband was diagnosed with skin cancer and I believe she needed the time to reflect upon her life and be with her husband. She returned in 2002 with the release of “A New Day Has Come” a song that she had dedicated to her husband Rene Angelil. Her music did not perform so well after the break and she decided to venture into showbiz. She was signed in by Caesars palace where she used to perform five nights a week from 2003 to 2007.
Nevertheless none of her album has been a complete let down to date. This has earned her fame and recognition all over the world. No one ever thought that Quebec let alone Canada could produce such talent; as a matter of fact very few people know that Celine comes from Canada. Much of her fame is associated with the American type of success in popular music.
Awards and Achievements
As far back as 1982, Celine Dion was already becoming a household name in Canada. On this year, Celine Dion managed to secure. Another award that Celine Dion won in the same year includes the Top Performer Music Award (Canadian Content par. 1).
The following year (1983), Celine Dion yet again bagged another award for her exemplary performance as a music artist. By winning the Top Performer Music Award, Celine Dion went down the annals of history as the first Canadian to have ever won a God Record (The Journey So Far par. 4). By this time Celine had already created a name in Quebec where she bagged numerous Felix Awards.
She gained recognition in Europe in 1988 when she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland (Canadian content par.1). During this awards she performed live before a television audience of 600 million viewers throughout Middle East, Russia, Europe, Japan and Australia After her temporary break from music, in 2004 she received the Chopard Diamond award from the World Music Awards show becoming the best selling female artist of all time.
Dion released her song “Falling Into You” at the start of 1996 and by March, it was already a best seller album. So successful was this album that in over 11 countries, it managed to top the pop charts. As a result, the album earned Celine Dion an award at the 39th edition of the Grammy Awards. Celine has earned millions of shillings from the overwhelming sales of this album. “Let’s Talk About Love” was the next album that Celine Dion released. So successful was this album that its record sales surpassed the 27 million copies that titanic had realized. Moreover, “My Heart Will Go On”, her other single album bagged her yet another award at the Oscars, this time as best original song (Canadian content par.5)
In 2005 Celine released “Celine Dion: For Keeps”. This is a biography of Celine Dion created from her words and pictures. It encompasses her whole life since childhood to her stardom lifestyle. (The Journey So Far par. 6).
Challenges
The biggest challenge that Celine Dion had to overcome was that of language if she wanted to succeed worldwide (The Journey So Far par. 3). Having been born and brought up in Charlemagne a small French town in Canada, Celine could only communicate in French. To gain stardom Celine had to attend an English school to polish her pronunciation and articulation of English words.
Lack of children for many women may impact negatively on one’s career. This second challenge was more of her personal than professional life. She was unable to have kids for a long time until she decided to use vitro fertilization to conceive. She gave birth to a baby boy named Rene Charles.
In 1999 Celine Dionne’s husband and her personal manager since she started her music career, René Angelil was diagnosed with skin cancer and he is currently in remission.
However the above challenges have not stopped her from achieving her dreams. While she no longer dominates the charts like she used to, Celine is still a force to reckon with. In June 2009, Celine Dion is reported to have earned approximately $ 100 million, according to Forbes magazine. The only female to have surpassed her to the position of the highest paid female artists is Madonna (Celine Dion Biography 2).
Social Responsibility Projects
With her tight recording schedules that ensure a hit after another, Celine might be viewed as a workaholic. However Celine has utilized her talents for many worthy causes. Most notable is her involvement with the Canadian cystic fibrosis foundation; an organization established to support and provides information of this genetic problem. Following the death of Karine, Celine Dion’s niece as a result of complications related to Cystic Fibrosis, her interest social responsibility projects developed further. She has done a number of songs for this worthy cause like” Fly” which appears on the “Falling Into You” album.
In addition, to being the ambassador of Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Celine has founded her own Celine Dion foundation alongside her husband René Angelil. The mandate of this organization is to offer support to worthy causes and needy individuals in the society. The organization is a non profit entity and recruits employees on the basis of volunteership. This ensures that no expenses are covered with the money collected and thus doing much bigger things for the Canadian people.
Conclusion
Marcelle Ferron and Celine Dion are two Canadian female artists who have made it in life. They both rose from humble beginnings to reach where they are today. These two artists were brought up in Quebec and can be referred to as the Quebecan divas.
Interestingly both artists prospered in lands away from home. Then the question that begs to be answered is why prosper away and not in Quebec? Using Marcelle’s words to answer the question; Quebec was more of a ghetto, and the environment was not conducive for a career woman.
Worse still the Canadians of the 1950’s were very traditional. They believed in the power of the woman as a housewife and a mother but not as a career woman. This hindered the development of young talent especially among women. Further, for those who defied the rules and followed their careers were treated as social outcasts, this was the main drive that forced Marcelle to move to France.
However the case was a bit different for Celine Dion. By the time she was coming to the limelight, pop music had not developed in Canada like it had in America. Her moving to the U.S was more because she wanted to access the best of technology in this part of the world.
Both the artists came from families that were artistically endowed. Three of Marcelle siblings are renowned artists with two of them being writers, the case is not different for Celine whose whole family was musically endowed. This might be considered genetically inherited from their parents, who were both musicians.
Marcelle and Celine both discovered their artistic talents when they were very young. At the age of five Celine was already performing together with her family members. As for Marcelle her passion for art came at the age of three when she had been hospitalized with tuberculosis of the bone. This taught her to appreciate everything around her and this was part of her artistic values.
Nevertheless the two artistes had some notable differences. While both of them were married during their career, Celine was lucky to have a supportive husband. To be more precise it was her husband René who nurtured her talent. He went to the extent of mortgaging his house just to raise enough funds to sponsor Celine’s recording. On the other hand Marcelle’s husband was a stereotypical chauvinistic man who considerer the role of women in the society as being housewives. Instead of supporting her when the rest of the world was against her, he was among those who critised her work. The situation was so critical that it led to their divorce and Marcelle migrated to France.
It is only after they had succeed in their artistic careers that the Canadian government recognized them through various awards, nonetheless the challenges that the two Canadian artists went through should be used as encouragement for other upcoming female artists.
Works Cited
Canadian Content. “Celine Dion.” Canadian Content Interactive Media. 2007. Web.
Celebrating Women’s Achievement. “Women Artists in Canada”. 2010. Web.
Bio True Story. “Celine Dion Biography”. A&E Television Networks. 2009. Web.
Lambton, Gunda. “Stealing the show: seven women artists in Canadian public art.” Canada. McGill- Queen’s Press, 1994. Web.
The Journey So Far. Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc, 1996-2009. Web.