Louis-Emile Beauregard. Sculptor. Wood carver. Saint-Adolphe-de-Dudswell, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Louis Beauregard made miniature models of the traditional scenes around him. Many of his models were mechanized and functioned as the real ones did. Farm machinery and rural life from 1920 to 1940, kitchen dioramas with the people at work and play and a school room with pupils and the teacher were some of his inspirations. His best known was a model of the general store, completely detailed from customers and inventory to a shotgun that breaks open to reload the shells. There is a permanent display of his miniatures in a Museum in Dudswell, Quebec. (See the link(s) below.) Beauregard was a “sculptor and handyman” and a Post Master by trade. His works were never sold while he was alive.

A link in French to the work of Louis Beauregard:

http://www.tourismeculturedudswell.com/art_culture_c_f_collection_beauregard.htm

A link in English (second page):

http://townshipsheritage.com/category/famous-artists

Jeanne Belanger-Robichaud. Sculptor. Wood carver. Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Jeanne Belanger-Robichaud made her first work, a model of the church in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, in 1929 as an offering of gratitude for the recovery of her daughter from an illness. It was a completely detailed model;about four feet tall and coloured and electrified to show the details of the interior.

That was just the beginning. She went on, over the next forty-one years, to make as many as 262 separate carvings that made up the village of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. The village is complete with out-buildings, towns-people (made by local artists) and horse-drawn wagons and carriages. Most of the village has been acquired by The Canadian Museum in Hull, Quebec and is on display on their blog-site. Unfortunately the blog is not searchable. But the site is quite good and well worth a look. (See the link below.)

The Canadian Museum of History Blog-site: http://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/

An Image of the Church and village by Jeanne Belanger (Can. Hist. Mus.):

Miniature_St-Jean-Port-Joli

F. Alice Avoine. Sculptor. Wood carver. Renault, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Alice Avoine used ‘as found’ materials (bottles, metal cans, wood and concrete to decorate her yard with bird houses, castles, whirligigs and animals (in concrete). All in paint. In an interview she said that she did it to pass the time and it looked beautiful. She was first mentioned in ‘Les Patenteux du Quebec.

Ref: Les Patenteux du Qubec. Louise de Grosbois, Raymonde Lamothe and Lise Nantel, Les Editions Parti Pris, Montreal, 1978.

Wilfrid Baribeau. Sculptor. Wood carver. St-Leon-de-Maskinonge, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Wilfrid Baribeau made naive carvings of people, animals and birds. He made a series of scenes that he assembled in bottles; some very elaborate ones and others more simple. His work was usually unpainted and he was not known to sign them. He was first mentioned in ‘LePatenteux du Quebec’.

Ref: Les Patenteux du Qubec. Louise de Grosbois, Raymonde Lamothe and Lise Nantel, Les Editions Parti Pris, Montreal, 1978.

Ref:Blake McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1999).

Edouard Audet. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Maria, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Edouard Audet was a primitive artist who made traditional scenes and those of every day Quebec life. He showed people at work and at play using available ‘as found’ materials (wood, fabric and metal) to carve and build his miniature scenes. He used colour where appropriate and was highly inventive. He was first mentioned in ‘Les Patenteux du Quebec’.

Ref: Les Patenteux du Qubec. Louise de Grosbois, Raymonde Lamothe and Lise Nantel, Les Editions Parti Pris, Montreal, 1978.

Ref:Blake McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1999)