Abstract

This study attempts, from a socio-historical perspective, to assess the contribution of Quebec's longest-running art periodical, Vie des Arts, to the discourse surrounding the visual arts in Quebec. The period under analysis, from 1956 to 1966, signaled the completion of Quebec's accession to social and cultural modernity and the events which took place during this time provide the context for the thesis. Areas examined include: the magazine's relationship to cultural policy in both Quebec and Canada; the history of the magazine; the content of the magazine; and the implications of the modernist aesthetic as viewed through Vie des Arts' perspective. The study provides a means of recontextualizing Vie des Arts' first decade of publication in order to examine its role in Quebec art history.