Robert Fortin. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Active 1960’s-1970’s (?).
R. (Robert) Fortin was a flat-plane woodcarver. He made unpainted flat-plane works of Quebec figures at work and play. He worked mainly in Butternut (Noyer Tendre) and usually signed with a chisel. He worked in the studio of Marcel Guay and because of the ‘Guay Atelier’ stam, we can safely assume that he was trained there. The ‘Atelier Marcel Guay’ stamp is sometimes found on the base of the Fortin carvings as well as on the work of other artists.. I am not sure of the timing of his career as he did not appear in ‘Le Guide des Artisans Createurs du Quebec’ of the 1970’s. (Although the ‘Guide’ was only meant to feature those artists who appeared at the Salon in Montreal during the 1970’s.)
It should be noted here that there are several other ‘Fortin’ woodcarvers mentioned during that period, including Gerard, Laurent and Valere. I have not worked out relationships though they were probably related and may have trained at the Marcel Guay studios.
R. Fortin. Signed carving of Checker Players in Butternut wood:
R. Fortin. St-Jean-Port-Joli Quebec. Checker players. 1970’s.
R. Fortin. His mark with a chisel:
R. Fortin. St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec Checker players. The Mark with a Chisel.
The stamp of the Marcel Guay Atelier on the base of the Fortin Checker Players:
R. Fortin. St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec Checker players The Mark Stamped Marcel Guay workshop 1970’s
