Zwicker’s Gallery, Halifax
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature
Laurier Lacroix, “Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2002, page 198
After studying in France for seventeen years, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté returned to his hometown of Arthabaska in 1907. Along with his contemporaries, who were also artistically trained abroad, Suzor-Coté sought to develop a national art for Canada. Instead of focusing on academic and historical subject matter, the artist chose to concentrate on the representation of nature as a way to forge an artistic identity. Suzor-Coté enjoyed studying the fleeting effects of light at different times of the day, as well in different seasons. The artist rapidly sketched these atmospheric conditions, capturing nature’s quick-changing harmonies of light. As Laurier Lacroix notes: “Suzor-Coté lives in these landscapes, takes possession of them and invests them with his art.”
The undulating hilly topography of Yamaska National Park in Quebec is a reminder of its close proximity to the Appalachians, with rock breaking through the surface of the mature forests surrounding the Réservoir Choinière. “Spring Trees on the Yamaska’s” gentle landscape, loose brushwork, intricate detail of the leaves on the trees and soft colours showcase Suzor-Coté’s abilities - a forceful Impressionist style that became quintessential to the artist’s oeuvre.
