Joachim Coulombe. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Tharcisius, Matapedia, Quebec. Active late 20th century.

Joachim Coulombe carved both the wild and domestic animals of Quebec. His carvings were naive and extremely charming and he often anthropomorphize them.  They were always painted but never, as far as I know, signed. Joachim Coulombe’s works were done in Pine wood and he used ‘as found’ colours in painting them; sometimes a glossy oil colour and sometimes a flat water colour. All the details were carved. An example of a farm horse is shown below.

A carving of a Farm Horse by Joachim Coulombe, Saint-Tharcicius, QC:

Farm Horse by Joachim Coulombe. Saint-Tharcicius, QC.

A detail of the Farm Horse:

Detail of the Farm Horse by Joachim Coulombe. Saint-Tharcicius, QC.

Albert Saint-Laurent. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Matane, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Albert Saint-Laurent was know for his carvings of birds with movable wings. His carvings were made in various woods usually signed and unpainted – simply varnished. He was first mentioned in the 1972 publication: Le Guide des Artisans Createurs du Quebec (pg. 227 and on the cover) *

His birds are similar to those of Valmont Belanger, another artist from Matane, Quebec (active 1980’s-90’s) except that Valmont Belanger’s birds were always painted – often with polka-dots. (See the article on Belanger. http://lyleelderfolkart.com/artist-bios/valmont-belanger/)

Le Guide des Artisans Createurs du Quebec with a bird by Albert Saint-Laurent on the cover:

Le Guide des Artisans Creaturs du Quebec. 1972.

*Ref: Le Guide des Artisans Createurs du Quebec. J. P. Payette, Editions La Press, 1972.

Lucien Legare. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Princeville, Quebec. Active 1970’s-1980’s.

I will quote a short biography on the base of one of his carvings (pictured here): “Lucien was 74 years old in 1987. He began carving in the late 1970’s as therapy for arthritis. June 1987”.

Lucien Legare was  sculptor of animals, especially horses, and people. His work is rare. His carvings were finely done and beautifully painted in ‘as found’ colours.

A Chipmunk carved by Lucien Legare of Princeville, Quebec:

Lucien Legare. Princeville, Carving of a Chipmunk. 1970s.

The mark of Lucien Legare on the base:

Lucien Legare. Princeville. His mark.

Robert Fortin. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Active 1960’s-1970’s (?).

R. (Robert) Fortin was a flat-plane woodcarver. He made unpainted flat-plane works of Quebec figures at work and play. He worked mainly in Butternut (Noyer Tendre) and usually signed with a chisel. He worked in the studio of Marcel Guay and because of the ‘Guay Atelier’ stam, we can safely assume that  he was trained there. The ‘Atelier Marcel Guay’ stamp is sometimes found on the base of the Fortin carvings as well as on  the work of other artists.. I am not sure of the timing of his career as he did not appear in ‘Le Guide des Artisans Createurs du Quebec’ of the 1970’s. (Although the ‘Guide’ was only meant to feature those artists who appeared at the Salon in Montreal during the 1970’s.)

It should be noted here that there are several other ‘Fortin’ woodcarvers mentioned during that period, including Gerard, Laurent and Valere. I have not worked out relationships though they were probably related and may have trained at the Marcel Guay studios.

R. Fortin. Signed carving of Checker Players in Butternut wood:

R. Fortin. St-Jean-Port-Joli Quebec. Checker players. 1970’s.

R. Fortin. His mark with a chisel:

R. Fortin. St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec Checker players. The Mark with a Chisel.

The stamp of the Marcel Guay Atelier on the base of the Fortin Checker Players:

R. Fortin. St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec Checker players The Mark Stamped Marcel Guay workshop 1970’s