 She was also struck by the work of the Abstract Expressionists in New York and in particular, impressed by the work of Franz Kline.Many of these elements and themes would be revisited in the works that soon followed, increasing in gestural quality and characterized with heavy impasto with a palette knife or spatula.Her production began to increase and Rita began to come into her own, winning first prize in the Concours de la Jeune Peinture in 1959 and the Prix Rodolphe-de-Repentigny in 1960.