Laureat Valliere. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Painter. Saint-Romuald, Quebec. Active first half of the 20th century.

Laureat Valliere was amulti talented artist. He trained when he was very young at the studio of Ferdinand Villeneuve who taught ornamental religious carving. Laureat Valiere opened a studio/gallery in Quebec City in the late 1940’s and also specialized in religious carvings, working in stone and wood. Valiere also carved in the vernacular, people and animals animals; usually stained and varnished. He worked in Basswood, Pine and Oak woods.

Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And:  Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.

Fernand Tousignant. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Notre-Dame-des-Prairie, Quebec. Active late 20th century.

Fernand Tousignant is a bird carver. He makes life-like carvings of  birds and ducks. His spouse Julienne colours his work and the artists sign in script with the date and species of bird.

Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And:  Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.

Herbert Thomlinson. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Pont-Rouge, Quebec. Active first half of the 20th century.

Herbert Thomlinson made carvings of forest animals and occasionally domestic scenes. He generally painted his carvings using oil based paints. His work is very detailed and sophisticated; especially his carvings of wild animals and fish. His work can be seen at the Musee Quebecois de Culture Populaire at Trois Riviere.

Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And:  Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.

Elzear Soucy. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Montreal, Quebec. Active 1900 – 1960’s.

Elzear Soucy was not an outsider artist. But, like a few other artists mentioned in these listings, (Zenon Alary, Leo Arbour  and even Laliberti come to mind) he deserves mention here for his influence on others. He was born in Saint-Oniseme on the lower Saint-Lawrence and moved to Montreal as a child with his family where he became a student and learned his metier. He made carvings of people, animals and traditional Quebec religious and historical  scenes, often working in hard woods in the round. His classicism is very evident in his work. He was first mentioned in Gauvreau’s book in 1940.

Ref: Artisans du Quebec. Jean-Marie Gauvreau, Les Editions du Bien Public, Montreal, Quebec,1940.

Ref:Blake McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1998).

Ref: Simard, Artinasat Quebecois. Montreal: Les Editions-de-L’homme. 1975.

Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And:  Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.

Benoit Santerre. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Baie-des-Sables, Quebec. Active mid 20th century – 2009.

Benoit Santerre made carvings of birds and people. He carved people from his childhood memories and Quebec characters in general as well as religious figures. Carved scenes from ‘The Dentist’s Office’ to ‘The Bedroom’ were part of his repertoire. His colours are bright and well done. He usually signed and dated his later work.

Ref: Adrien Levasseur. Website. And:  Sculpteurs en Art Populaire au Quebec, Editions GID, Quebec. 2012.