Arthur Villeneuve. Painter. Sculptor. Chicoutimi, Quebec. Active mid-20th century.

Arhtur Villeneuve, a barber in Chicoutimi, Quebec, was a primitive artist. He worked on any ‘as found’ surface that he could find; including the house that he lived in. Driven by his inspiration, he covered every surface of his home-inside and out-with his impressions of the world and the society around him. His work and his impressions were not well received by his neighbors and fellow townspeople in the beginning; but his visions  attracted attention from the world beyond Chicoutimi and he became well known indeed; eventually having a retrospective of his work in 1972 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. Arthur Villeneuve was not a naive artist; he was true primitive who worked with ‘as found’ materials, including oil based house paint and used whatever he had at hand or could afford to buy to make a life-long series of very sophisticated and often spectacular works of art.

Arthur Villeneuve also sculpted.

An example of the work of Arthur Villeneuve:

Arthur Villeneuve. A Landscape.

 Ref: Francois Gagnon. Arthur Villeneuve’s Quebec Chronicles. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. 1972.

A link to a National Film Board documentary about Arthur Villeneuve. ‘The Barber of Chicoutimi’:

https://www.nfb.ca/film/villeneuve_peintre-barbier

A link to an article about Villeneuve in the Encyclopedia of French Culture in North America:

http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-401/Arthur-Villeneuve_House:_a_Testimony_to_an_Artist%E2%80%99s_Life_and_Work.html

Pierre Favreau. Sculptor. Wood carver. St.-Cuthbert, Quebec. Active late 20th century-.

Pierre Favreau was a bird carver. He made carvings of the wild birds found in Quebec and Eastern Canada. His carvings were realistic; well carved and colored. He signed his work. He was married to Christiane Desbiens and they shared a studio.

Richard Metivier. Sculptor. Wood carver. Quebec. (Exact location unknown.) Active 1995.

Richard Metivier. His mark is found on a fine painted chip carving of a man ice fishing. It is signed “Richard Metivier ’95”  with a scratch carving of a lantern on the front of the base. The background of this artist is unknown as yet; the images were seen on a popular and informative blog on Quebec folk artists and outsider artists (see note *). Some images are shown below.

The Ice Fisherman by Richard Metivier:

Richard Metivier. Quebec. Sculptor. Wood carver. Active 1995.

Richard Metivier.  His mark:

Richard Metivier. Quebec. Sculptor. Wood carver. Active 1995. His mark.

*Ref:Popular Folk Art Forum-Blog (French language): http://www.antiquepromotion.com/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=27