paul-émile borduas (the main force behind the libertarian manifesto refus global) was probably the greatest influence to rita’s life as a painter – he believed self-knowledge was the key to producing highly personal work. borduas was described by her as being "very nice, very intelligent, and very sensitive – he respected people". when she was mocked for painting figurative images, borduas would defend her insisting figurative painting or non-figurative painting was still painting.