Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
Paul-Emile Lavallee. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Ubald-de-Portneuf, Quebec. Active late 20th century- .
Paul-Emile Lavallee is the grandson of Wilfrid Richard. Like other family members, Paul-Emile Lavallee is self-taught and he is an artist; a sculptor. His range is wide; carving Birds and Animals and occasionally people. He always signs his work.
A link to some of the work of Paul-Emile Lavallee:
http://pages.infinit.net/sqe1rl2/pellav.html
Marie- Jeanne Lavallee (Nee Richard). Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Ubald-de-Portneuf, Quebec. Active 1960’s- .
Marie-Jeanne Lavallee Daughter of Wilfrid Richard. She is a sculptor of birds and animals in the tradition of her father and grandfather. She signs her work.
A link to her work:
Leo Chagnon. Sculptor. Sorel, Quebec. Decoy maker. Active mid-20th century.
A Snow Goose by Leo Chagnon:
Snow Goose. By Leo Chagnon. Sorel, Quebec.
Georges Desmeules. Sculptor. Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, Quebec.
Active mid-20th century. Father of Aime Desmeules. (B. 1917) Maker of sculptures of animals in wood, usually in a larger size, with rope and leather often used for tails and ears and painted with ‘as found’ colors. His work was meant to be displayed outside in yards and on verandas.
When he was recorded in Les Patenteux du Quebec, it was for the groups of painted cut-out people, and other things that he had made and filled his yard with. But if we look closely, in the shadows on those black and white photos, we can see in among the people, larger sized wood carvings of animals. Mostly horses. He also carved the animals for a Creche scene in the village .
A Camel by Georges Desmeules:
Georges Desmeules. Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix Quebec. Carving of a Camel.
A Feeding Black Horse by Georges Desmeules:
Georges Desmeules. Grazing Black Horse.
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).
Ref: Kobayashi/Bird, A Compendium of Canadian Folk Artists (1985).
Aime Desmeules. Sculptor. Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, Quebec. Active mid to late 20th century.
A sculptor of animals of every kind. Wild, domestic and exotic. He was the son of George Desmeules (B. 1891) who was an artist also and who he worked together with as he learned his art. It was only later in his life that he began to sign his work- on the underside – usually the initials “A. D.”. ( There is often confusion over the ‘A’ as it was in script and could look like an ‘A’ or a ‘G’.)
Both Desmeules, Pere et fils, carved larger sized works (horses and cows for example were usually 16 or 18 inches high. They also used other materials: leather or leatherette for ears and braided rope for tails and glass eyes. (As in the Camel shown here.) In the early days their work was meant to be outside and was painted in ‘as found’ colors (oil based house paint).
A Carving of a Fox by Aime Desmeules:
Aime Desmeules. Carving of a Fox.
Detail showing his mark:
Aime Desmeules. Carving of a Fox. Detail of the mark.
(Georges Desmeules was first recorded in ‘Les Patenteux’.)
Ref: Les Patenteux du Qubec. Louise de Grosbois, Raymonde Lamothe and Lise Nantel, Les Editions Parti Pris, Montreal, 1978.
