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.
