Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (April 6, 1869 – January 29, 1937) was a French Canadian painter and sculptor. He was one of the first native-born Canadian artists whose works were directly influenced by French

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

Biography

He was born in Arthabaska,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1869 and his father was an artist. Suzor-Coté studied at the Collège du Sacré-Coeur, Arthabaska. He was a baritone, who studied music at the Conservatory of Music in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1890, but later in the 1890s, studied painting and sculpture at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

with

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in M ...

. At the school, he learned of the work of Swedish sculptor

Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedish sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the Gustaf Vasa sta ...

whose sculptures of indigenous people influenced him. Three years later, after a visit home, he studied painting and sculpture at the Julian and Colarossi Academies. He exhibited his first works in 1894 at the Salon de la

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

. His first fully Impressionist paintings, with broken brushwork and bright colour, were made in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

in 1906. After his return to Quebec in 1908, he established a studio in Montreal creating paintings with classic interpretations of Canadian landscapes. He produced many Impressionist and even Post-Impressionist paintings of the Quebec landscape, as well as portraits, nudes, historical paintings and later, sculptures. In his paintings, he was most interested in the play of light on snow and water, leaving behind optical truth for visual innovations. He was made an Officer of the Academy of France in 1901 – an honour for a Canadian artist. He was also made a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

and joined the progressive Canadian Art Club. There were numerous exhibitions of his work during his lifetime and afterwards such as the retrospective of his work organized by the Quebec government in 1929. In 2002, ''Suzor-Coté, 1869-1937: Light and Matter'', co-organized by the Musée du Québec and the National Gallery of Canada, was circulated by the Musée du Québec. This first major retrospective of Suzor-Coté, the first in 75 years, brought together over 140 works. Suzor-Coté became paralyzed in 1927. In 1929, Suzor-Côté moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, where he died on 29 January 1937.

Recognition

On 14 March 1969 Canada Post issued stamps based on Suzor-Coté's painting ''Return from the Harvest Field'' (1903) in the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

, Ottawa, Ontario. The 13-perforated 50¢ stamps with the inscription 'Suzor-Coté, 1869-1937' were printed by Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited.Canada Post stamp
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Selected works

He produced forty or fifty small bronze Impressionist figures and groups. As of 2020, the Suzor-Coté collection in Ottawa's

consists of twenty-eight paintings, ten sculptures and a number of drawings. ''Return from the Harvest Field'' was acquired by the National Gallery in 1904. Other Suzor-Coté works in Canada are to be found in Quebec City's Musée national des beaux-arts, the RiverBrink Art Museum, and in private collections.

Gallery

File:Suzor-Cote - Riviere Nicolet Arthabaska.jpg, ''Nicolet River, Arthabaska'' File:Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté - Settlement on the Hillside.jpg, ''Settlement on the Hillside'' (1909), Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté File:Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté - Fim de Inverno.jpg, ''End of the Winter - La Fin de l'hiver'' Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté at the

Museu Nacional de Belas Artes The Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (MNBA; Portuguese for National Museum of Fine Arts) is a national art museum located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The museum, officially established in 1937 by the initiative of education minister , wa ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

File:Sketch for The Death of Montcalm.jpg, ''La Mort de Montcalm'' (1902), Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. File:Marc-Aurele de Foy Suzor-Cote - Le Grand Nu.JPG, ''Le Grand Nu'' (1891?)

References

Bibliography

External links

Canadian Sculpture: Coming of Age
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzor-Cote 1869 births 1937 deaths 19th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 20th-century Canadian painters Sculptors from Quebec Canadian Impressionist painters Impressionist sculptors Academic art Canadian alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Académie Julian alumni Académie Colarossi alumni Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 20th-century sculptors 19th-century sculptors 19th-century Canadian male artists 20th-century Canadian male artists