Marc-Aurèle DE FOY SUZOR-COTÉ (1869 - 1937) R.C.A.

Femmes de Caughnawaga, originally cast in 1924, this model showing three native women draped in shawls, bent forward, fighting the elements and carrying baskets containing their crafts to market. Exhibiting a medium brown patina overall, signed and titled in the mould, together with foundry marks for 'Roman Bronze Works Inc. NY', along with the mark for L'Atelier du Bronze (Inverness, QC, circa 2000), who now owns the mould for this bronze. This was the last casting by the Inverness Foundry for this sculpture as has been confirmed by the Foundry. Provenance: Private Collection, Gatineau, Quebec. Measuring 16 3/4" high (not including the 2" wooden plinth). The painter-sculptor Suzor-Coté was influenced by Impressionism; he studied in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts and readily met the imposed artistic requirements of the famous School. At the time, he was an acquaintance of Auguste Rodin. While he was the most important Quebec painter of the early 20th century, approximately seventeen of his bronzes are listed in museums, including "Les Femmes de Caughnawaga" (now Kahnawake), in the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec city: "this bronze is an emotional testimony of a rich tradition that represents this theme which brings us back to Cornelius Krieghoff a century earlier", "one of the most iconic Canadian sculptures". His (birthplace) home in Victoriaville was declared a national monument in 1975.