Early Life and Artistic Formation
Born in Chicoutimi, Canada, Marcella Maltais was the daughter of Edmond Louis Maltais and Laurette Fortin. After her family moved to Rivière-du-Loup and later to Québec, she began her formal artistic training at the École des Beaux Arts. During her secondary studies, she attended Saturday classes for children where she met Jean Paul Lemieux. Following her studies, she worked in professional offices during the day while enrolling in evening and free courses at the École des Beaux Arts, where she was taught by Jean Dallaire, who served as a significant influence during the beginning of her career.
Artistic Evolution and Travels
In 1953, Maltais rented a studio in Québec and began exhibiting works at the Café de la Paix. Her early career included painting in the Charlevoix region and Île d'Orléans. A pivotal moment occurred in 1960 during a trip to Greece, where she discovered the island of Hydra. The light and artistic fauna of the island left a lasting impression, leading her to restore a ruined house to use as a studio. While she explored abstraction, she eventually returned to figurative painting, a shift prompted by a revelation of light through her window in 1968.
Her later works often focused on light, including the Taïga series and various polyptychs. Her paintings are held in numerous private and corporate collections, as well as various public institutions and museums, including the Musée des beaux-arts du Canada.
