Francois Mercier. Sculptor. Wood carver. Mont-Saint-Pierre, Gaspe, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Francois Mercier made carvings of model boats and of very elegant birds. He carved in Pine and sometimes used color and sometimes not. He often made the body of the bird first and then applied very elegantly curved wings. Like many of the artists of that period (1960’s-1970’s); signed pieces by him are rare.

 

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

Leonard ‘Leo’ Lapierre. Sculptor. Wood carver. Gaspe, Quebec. Active late 20th century.

Leo Lapierre made carvings in the round of both animals and people using traditional carving techniques but he gradually began working with ‘as found materials. He worked with driftwood, stone, metal, glass and bone. He would find the form of an animal or bird in driftwood and give it meaning with color and a title. M. Lapierre made musical instruments using household containers as sound boxes. A very talented artist, he found art everywhere and filled his life with it.

 

Ref: Un Art Pas Si Bete. Cecile Gelinas, Musee de la Gaspesie, Quebec, 1993.

Albert Roy. Sculptor. Wood cerver. Nouvelle, Gaspe, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

Familiar  with wood all his life, Albert Roy began carving when he retired to his hometown of Nouvelle. He made relief carvings and carvings in the round of traditional Quebec scenes of daily life as well as animals, fish and birds. His carvings were full of movement and detail; in his carvings of animals they were never at rest. His work was refined, delicate and charming. He rarely painted his work but would color in details for dramatic effect.

 

 

Ref: Un Art Pas Si Bete. Cecile Gelinas, Musee de la Gaspesie, Quebec, 1993.

 

Rejean Pipon. Sculptor. Wood carver. Anse-au-Griffon, Gaspe, Quebec. Active mid to 2010.

Rejean Pipon was perhaps best known for his over-sized and  even monumental sculptures of insects that he attached to the sides of his white stuccoed house in Anse-au-Griffon; not far from Forillon on the tip of the Gaspe peninsula. He created them out of his imagination; some were smaller and some were very large. The artist once told me that he enjoyed watching his larger insect creations travelling off down highway 132 strapped to the roof of a collector’s car. He enjoyed the over-sized perspective and played with it in his art. A carved two meter long pocket knife that he kept in his studio was an example.

While his insects were a strong attraction for the passer-by; his main creations were smaller carvings of traditional Quebec scenes of people at their every-day activities. Making soap, black-smithing, harvesting in the fields and making butter were some of his favorite scenes. He carved in Cedar wood and his scenes would often include children at play. He often signed them and sometimes used color. Many are in private collections and some can be seen at the ‘Musee-de-la-Gaspesie’ in Gaspe village. He would often put carvings of black painted crows on the fence posts that surrounded his house.

There are full sized sculptures of Religious figures (including a Calvary) carved by Rejean Pipon over looking the Gulf of Saint-Lawrence at Cap-aux-Os, Gaspe. There is a photo of the Calvary posted below taken very recently; unfortunately it is in a very neglected state. As well there is an image of Rejean Pipon’s house with three of his carvings.

Rejean Pipon and his house can be seen on the cover of the book on Gaspe artists: ‘Un art pas si bete’ published in 1993.

 

Rejean Pipon’s House looking East:

 

The Calvary by Rejean Pipon. Taken in 2016*:

* Image by  Photographer Eric Garsonnin. From his Flicker feed:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/photocopies/

 

Ref: Un Art Pas Si Bete. Cecile Gelinas, Musee de la Gaspesie, Quebec, 1993.

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

Jean-Paul Dube. Sculptor, Wood carver. New-Carlisle, Gaspe, Quebec. Active mid-20th century.

Mr. Dube was born in Matapedia, Quebec. He studied law and was a Salmon fishing guide on the Matapedia. He began to carve in his spare time (while listening to hockey on the radio) and made carvings of animals, fish and every kind of bird found in the Matapedia valley. His carvings show great detail and color. From feathers to scales and fur. His work is collected throughout North America.

 

Ref: Un Art Pas Si Bete. Cecile Gelinas, Musee de la Gaspesie, Quebec, 1993.