Cadieux. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Montreal, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Cadieux (the first name is unknown) made primitive carvings of birds. He always painted them and sometimes signed with an ink stamp that said simply: ‘Cadieux – Sculpteur –  Montreal’. I know little else about this artist for certain except that he was active 1950’s – 1960’s. I have found his birds over the years at various markets in the Montreal area – a few signed with the stamp – most not. All in paint with some mounted on a base and some not mounted – merely having a single hole where a base may have been attached. One of the examples shown has two legs and another slightly different carving has a single metal leg. They all appear to date from the middle of the 20th century. Above all they are very fine examples of primitive bird sculpture.*

Some examples of the work of Cadieux. Two painted Birds:

A pair of birds by Cadieux, Montreal.

A single bird by Cadieux:**

Bird Carving by Cadieux.

The Mark:**

Cadieux Mark

*For a while I thought that they were the work of Emile Bluteau. He brought a few to me when he was picking  in the 1970’s. He strongly denied making them and told me they were the work of a carver who made bird houses and decorated them with these bird carvings.  Pickers would remove the birds to sell and dump the ‘Bird” houses because they were too big and were only called bird houses because they were full of these carved birds. If this story is true then those ‘Bird’ houses must have been quite a sight. I have learned over the years to be wary of yarns by pickers but I must say that Emile Bluteau usually let you know when he was pulling your leg.

** From: https://shadflyguy.com/tag/folk-art-animals/page/2/

Aline Caron. Painter. Montmagny. Quebec.  Active 1970’s.

Aline Caron was a primitive painter. She is known for a Quebec winter scene signed and dated ’77 in the lower right corner as well as other Quebec scenes. Aline Caron eventually moved to the Laurentians.

Leo Potvin. Sculptor. Woodcarver. (Place unknown) Quebec. Active late 20th century.

Leo Potvin made painted carvings. Among other carvings, he is known for a dated carving of a Newfoundland Dog in paint; signed and dated 1992. He usually signed his work.

Leo Potvin. Painted carving of a Newfoundland Dog:

Leo Potvin. Newfoundland Dog woodcarving.

Leo Potvin mark:

Leo Potvin. Mark.

Dolores Turmel-Rodrigue. Painter. Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec. Active 1967 – .

Dolores Turmel-Rodrigue painted landscapes and traditional scenes, often, like other Quebec artists, using the prints of Edmond Massicotte for inspiration and guides. She would paint the stories that her father told the children. Her paintings were full of colour and always told a story. She always painted on canvas with oils and she signed them ‘Dolores’ and dated them.

Ref: Website with a biography and examples of her work:

http://pages.infinit.net/sqe1rl2/dotrod.html

Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.

Gerard Turcotte. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Sauveur, Quebec. Active 1960’s – .

After working at the Davies Shipyard, Gerard Turcotte opened a grocery store on Dorchester Street and here in his spare time he began making miniature models of horse-drawn equipment of every kind. Transport, farm, recreation, sleighs and buggies. All interested him. He worked with wood, metal where it was used and leather for the harness, collars and bridles. Every one of them was to scale and he would spend at least forty hours on each one. While his models were horse drawn; he never made horses for them.  He made over 200 miniatures and they were on display in his store. There is no note of his having signed his work.

Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.