Andre De Bois. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Quebec Province. Area unknown. Active early to mid 20th century.

Shown below is a painted carving of a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. It is carved in a ‘Hard’ Pine wood and dates from the 1930’s. The carving is signed on the base in ink: “Mounty. Hand Carved By Andre De Bois”  It certainly appears to be ‘De Bois’ with a capital ‘B’), Quebec”. The carving is highly detailed and done in the formal manner of Paul Archebald Caron rather than the flat plane  caricature style of a Trygg or Hannah or even a Bourgault. And Andre De Bois also carved in the flat plane manner.

The second carving below is a carving of a hobo or tramp and the third  a carving of a Monk . The Hobo is signed on the base: “Hobo, Hand carved by Andre De bois, Quebec”  On this carving the ‘b’ in De bois is not capitalized. It is dated ‘1938’ in pencil. The Monk is signed: “Monk” Hand carved by Andre De Bois and is undated. (In my opinion all three carvings are pre-WW2.)

The signature ‘DeBois or Debois’ may or may not be a pseudonym. There is not a lot of information on this artist and it would be interesting to clarify this artist’s biography. His mark is seen on various carvings all flat-plane work. But some are very naive and occasionally a very sophisticated carving is seen with the ‘De Bois’ mark. It makes me wonder if perhaps a formally trained sculptor is experimenting in this field and the mark : ‘De Bois’ (which means literally ‘Of Wood’) is perhaps a play on words and a cover for a formally trained artist who is carving simple Tramps and Monks.

Some images of an RCMP Officer signed Andre De Bois:

Andre De Bois Quebec. Carving of a Mounty. 1930’s.

The Andre De Bois mark:

De Bois Mark on the Mounty Wood carving.

Side image of The Mounty wood carving:

Andre De Bois Quebec. Mounty. Side view.

Andre De bois. Signed Carving of a “Hobo”:

Andre De bois. Hobo carving. signed.

The Mark Andre De bois on the base and the date in the upper right:

Andre De bois. The mark on the Hobo wood carving.

Andre De Bois. Signed carving of a Monk:

Andre De Bois Carving of a Monk

Andre De Bois. His mark on the carving of a Monk:

Andre De Bois. The mark on the Monk.

Georgette St-Pierre. Painter. Quebec. (region unknown) Active early 20th century.

Georgette St-Pierre was a primitive artist. Known for one signed landscape. A naive painting of a Quebec farmstead made with ‘as found’ materials and signed and dated 1910. With a provenance label on the reverse. (This appears to have been painted on wallpaper.)

Georgette St-Pierre. Some images:

Georgette St-Pierre. Quebec. 1910. Naive painting.

Her Mark:

Georgette St-Pierre. Quebec. Her Mark

The reverse with label:

Label on reverse of painting.

Rand, ? ( First name unknown). Sculptor. Woodcarver. Verdun, Quebec. Active mid 2oth century.

This artist was a maker of painted flat-plane figural carvings made in the style of Carl-Johan Trygg (see article) the figures were not carved ‘from life’ but were caricature or character carvings. Works are occasionally found with his, or her, mark on the base – some are shown below. There is no known first name found yet for this artist. The mark ‘Verdun’ on the base is not unusual; there were several woodcarvers working there in the mid 20th century and some – notably the Hannah brothers – were known to have learned the art from C. J. Trygg. (see articles on Hannah family)

Samples of wood carvings marked “Rand”:

Wood carvings signed Rand. Verdun. Four Carved Figures.

Close-up of two Carved ‘Rand’ figures:

Rand. Verdun. Quebec. Wood Carver. Two carved figures.

The ‘Rand, Verdun’ mark on the base:

Rand. Verdun Mark on Base.

Fernand Bourgault. Sculptor. Flat-plane carver. Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Active mid to late 20th century.

Fernand Bourgault is the son of Medard Bourgault and the father of Paul-Yvan Bourgault  (who is also a talented sculptor) Fernand Bourgault is a very talented sculptor and he works in both contemporary and rural Quebec themes.

A carved bust of a young woman by Fernand Bourgault:

Fernand Bourgault, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec.

His mark:

Fernand Bourgault. His mark.

J. LeRoy. Sculptor. Montreal, Verdun (?),  Quebec.  Active 1930’s – 1950’s.

The Mark: Hand carved by J. LeRoy appears on a carved shadow box of a man in traditional Quebec costume sitting by a wood stove smoking a pipe. It is signed “J. LeRoy” on the reverse. (See images below.)

There is certainly a connection between R. LeRoy and J. LeRoy. (See article on R. LeRoy.)

Shadow box by J. LeRoy:

Diorama by J. LeRoy. Verdun, Quebec. 1950’s.

Mark of J. LeRoy:

Mark of J. LeRoy, Verdun, Quebec.