Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
Alain Cummings. Sculptor. Fatima, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec. Active late 20th century – .
Alain Cummings makes sculptures of Water fowl and Shore birds in ‘papier-mache’. They are beautifully painted and mounted on driftwood. He always signs his work. He is also known for his carvings in stone.
Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And: Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.
Jacques Coulombe. Sculptor. Quebec City, Quebec. Active mid-1960’s – .
An Outsider artist, Jacques Coulombe describes himself as self-taught. He works mainly in metals – iron, steel and aluminum, as well as Plexiglas, polyester resin, concrete and wood. His work is Modernist in nature and he specializes in installations. Jacques Coulombe was a founding member of ‘La Chambre Blanche’ in Quebec City (1978).
An article with an example of his work on The Historical Dictionary of Quebec Sculpture website:
http://dictionnaire.espaceartactuel.com/en/artistes/coulombe-jacques-1941/
Ref: Historical Dictionary of Quebec Sculpture in the 20th Century. http://dictionnaire.espaceartactuel.com/en/artistes/alary-zenon-1894-1974/
Chester Dalson. Painter. Nova Scotia. Active first half of the 20th century.
The mystery surrounding the painter Chester Dalson from Nova Scotia.
“In the winter of 1938, the last in a series of three exhibitions of contemporary art was mounted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The first had focused on cubism and abstract art, the second on fantastic art, dada and surrealism and this last one showcased “Masters of Popular Painting” — artists who worked in a style that is now often called naive.
Great pains were taken in the preface to the catalogue to explain to exhibition visitors they should not expect to see “folk art” by anonymous artists, but that they would see the work of “painters of marked and consistent personality.” Some 20 artists from Europe and North America were included, exhibiting a total of about 150 works. Perhaps the most famous exhibitor was the French artist Henri Rousseau and there were two Canadians — Chester Dalson and Robert Cauchon.
Dalson is seldom, if ever, heard of now. Indeed, the biographical note in the exhibition catalogue ends with the comment “He left Wolfville (Nova Scotia) at the end of 1936 and has not been heard of since.” *
* From an article by Gay Guthrie, 2012 in the Orilliapacket.com.
The CHIN database lists a Mark Dalson who painted under the artist name Chester Dalson.
A Google search of his name turns up a curious article in the Montreal Gazette of May 9, 1938 about a man named Mark Dalson who turned up in St. John, New Brunswick “between jobs” and said that he was the missing artist whose work was “attracting so much attention in New York city”
Mention of him is made also in the Frick Art Reference Library.
There is a story here. I wonder what it is. It would be nice to locate a work by this artist. He was in some very illustrious company in the 1930’s.
The Montreal Gazette, 1938:
The Canadian Heritage Information Network:
Robert cauchon. Painter. Claremont, La Malbaie, Charlevoix County, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.
Robert Cauchon worked for his father who was a blacksmith and carriage maker. He began painting in his spare time and developed a distinctive style of painting; one that was certainly influenced by the artists of the Canadian school who spent the 1920’s and 1930’s in the Charlevoix County and surrounding country-side. He became good enough to be invited to show in New York galleries in the 1930’s. One such show (with three pictures by Cauchon) at the Metropolitan Museum in New York featured naive artists from around the world including French artist Henri Rousseau.
Robert Cauchon. A Charlevoix County Scene:
Robert Cauchon. A Charlevoix Scene. c.1960.
*There were several artists in this Charlevoix County group. Among them the painters and sculptors of the Bolduc and Bouchard families. The painters are featured in the publication listed below (“Charlevoix et ses peintures populaires”).
Ref: Dubé, Richard et François Tremblay, Peindre un pays: Charlevoix et ses peintres populaires, Laprairie: Éditions Broquet, 1989, 160 p. (Collection; Signature Plus), ISBN: 2-89000-105-9;
Bruno Champagne. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Limoilou, Quebec. Active 1990’s – .
Bruno Champagne makes very inventive and topical sculptures; often portraying young people in social situations. His carved impressions are always painted and signed. His carvings carry a positive message and he makes full use of caricature and humour. Bruno Champagne uses wood and other ‘as found’ materials including metal and cloth.
Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And: Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.
