Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
L. Roy. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Active 1940’s – early 1950’s.
L. Roy was a Quebec flat-plane carver. He made painted carvings of Quebec characters in traditional costume. His carvings were smaller, measuring up to 5 or 6 inches high. Three examples of his work are shown below. The couple are signed L. Roy on the base.
Three carvings by L. Roy. St-Jean-Port-Joli, Que:
L. Roy. St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Three carved figures.
R. Laurendeau. Sculptor. Woodcarver. St-Jean-Port-Joli,Quebec. Active 1930’s – 1940’s.
R. Laurendeau was a flat-plane woodcarver. He made painted carvings of Quebec figures in traditional clothes and settings. His figures were generally smaller in size ranging from 2.5 inches to about 5.5 inches.His carvings were always painted and usually signed on the base. His work is rarely found today. Perhaps the smaller sized made them difficult to collect and keep. Some examples are shown. The first three were almost too small to sign.*
Group of three Quebec carvings by R. Laurendeau:
R. Laurendeau. Three carved Quebec figures.
The bases of three carvings:
R. Laurendeaau. The Base marks.
A signed pair of carved figures by R. Laurendeau:
R. Laurendeau. Pair of carved Quebec figures.
The mark of R. Laurendeau on the bases:
R. Lorendeau. His marks.
* R. Laurendeau was one of several Quebec flat-plane woodcarvers whose carving careers seemed to have stopped sometime in the 1940’s or in a few cases the very early 1950’s. (The second world war may have been a factor for some.)
J. V. Titus. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Castalia, Grand Manan Island New Brunswick. Active 1960’s – 70’s.
J. V. Titus was known for his delicate carvings of Seagull. They were usually mounted on pieces of driftwood and often had open wings as if they were about to fly. The were sold on Grand Manan Island in his shop to travelers and tourists. He always signed his carvings with labels attached to the base (see below).
A carving of a Sea Gull by J. V. Titus. Castilia, Grand Manan:
J. V. Titus. Seagull carving. Grand Manan Is. NB.
The label of J. V. Titus Grand Manan N.B.
J. V. Titus. Seagull carving. His mark.
Another paper label of J. V. Titus:
J. V. Titus. His Label.
Lucie Normand. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Montreal, Quebec. Active 1930’s – 40’s.
Lucie Normand was the sister of flat-plane woodcarver Regina Normand. Like her sister, Lucie made painted flat-plane carvings of Quebec people in traditional settings and dress. She signed her work ‘L. Normand’ in script on the base with no place name unlike her sister Regina who sometimes put ‘Montreal, Quebec’. Both artists made smaller painted works; usually pairs. The seated pair shown here for example, measure about 3.5 inches long. Unfortunately Lucie was killed in an airplane crash and this disaster ended the Normand family carvings. (Of social interest perhaps: it would seem that these two women signed with initials for a reason. At that time there were not a lot of women carvers in their field and staying ‘anonymous’ may have been done to keep the playing field level.)
Painted carvings of a Quebec Couple by Lucie Normand:
L. Normand. Carved Quebec Couple. 1930s-40s.
Another view:
L. Normand. Carved Quebec Couple. 1930s-40s.
The mark of Lucie Normand:
L. Normand. The mark on the Quebec Couple. 1930s-40s.
The $5.00 price mark on Lucie Normand’s Quebec Couple: (See note below)
L. Normand. The price mark on the Quebec Couple. 1930s.
Note: It should be mentioned from time to time that when we are at looking at these – often quite small flat-plane woodcarvings – we will see a price on the base of the carvings. The price that the artist charged in his gallery/workshop or that the souvenir art shops charged. This small pair (3.5 in. long) by L. Normand – made in the late 1930’s was priced at $5.00 as we can see on the base. That was a fair bit of money at the time.
J. Wall. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Montreal, Quebec. Active 1930’s.
J. Wall was a flat-plane woodcarver. He made painted carvings of Quebec figures in traditional costumes and situations. Signed works have been found by this artist but his work has to be considered very rare. He signed in script on the bottom of the base: “Hand carved. J. Wall. Montreal.” A signed example of his work from the 1930’s is shown.*
Carving of a Man with a Cigar by J. Wall. Montreal,Quebec:
Flat-Plane carving by J. Wall. Montreal. 1930’s.
The mark of J. Wall on the base:
Flat-Plane carving by J. Wall. Montreal. The Mark.
* J. Wall was one of several Quebec flat-plane woodcarvers whose carving careers seemed to have stopped sometime in the 1940’s or in a few cases the very early 1950’s. (The second world war may have been a factor for some.)
