Artwork by Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté,  Strawberries

Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté
Strawberries

oil on canvas
signed lower right
12 x 18.5 ins ( 30.5 x 47 cms )

Auction Estimate: $12,000.00$8,000.00 - $12,000.00

Price Realized $19,200.00
Sale date: December 1st 2022

Provenance:
Wm. Scott & Sons, Montreal
P. Labranche, Montreal, by 1967
Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal, 1977
Acquired by the present Private Collection, November 1977
Exhibited:
“Collector’s Canada: Selections from a Toronto Private Collection”, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; travelling to Musée du Québec, Quebec City; Vancouver Art Gallery; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, 14 May 1988‒7 May 1989, no. 39
“Marc–Aurèle de Foy Suzor–Coté Retrospective Exhibition”, Galerie Eric Klinkhoff, Montreal, 13‒27 October 2018, no. 3
Literature:
Hugues de Jouvancourt, “Suzor–Coté”, Montreal, 1967, reproduced page 29, 1978 edition reproduced page 161
Dennis Reid, “Collector’s Canada: Selections from a Toronto Private Collection”, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1988, no. 39, reproduced pages 4 (plate 4) & 46 (plate 39)
Joan Murray, “Home Truths: A Celebration of Family Life by Canada’s Best-Loved Painters”, Toronto, 1997, reproduced page 153 (plate 123)
A talented draftsman, skillful painter, and astonishing colourist, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté seemed to possess every artistic disposition. From his first trip to Paris, from 1891 to 1894, the artist set out to explore the range of possibilities of painting: portraits, landscapes, genre scenes and still lifes. The extent of his abilities is in full display in these early works, with his brilliant use of tone and confident brushstrokes.

These qualities are even found in a modest subject such as this original still life of strawberries. Back in his native village of Arthabaska in the Bois-Francs region, the painter was inspired by a subject that reveals his interest in observing everyday elements. The composition brings together two baskets of strawberries, one empty, with the fruit either scattered or hulled and arranged on a plate and the other still full.

Having challenged himself to depict such a simple subject, he made use of all his artistic knowledge. The composition that emerges from the shadows centers on the intersection of tangled truncated pyramidal figures and diagonals that intersect over an oblong shape. With regard to perspective, Suzor-Coté uses the strategy of placing the cartons at an angle in order to give depth to his subject. In terms of colour, he arranged a light palette of white, brown, and beige, which brings out the red of the strawberries, their green stalks harmonizing with the jade rim of the plate.

The resulting image is mouthwatering, as Robertine Barry wrote in La Patrie in 1897 when describing another work illustrating the same subject: "The illusion was complete; it was glaringly realistic and my mouth waters again while writing."

We extend our thanks to Laurier Lacroix, C.M., art historian, for his assistance in researching this artwork and for contributing the preceding essay.


Dessinateur talentueux, peintre habile, étonnant coloriste, Suzor-Coté semble doté de toutes les dispositions artistiques. Dès son premier séjour d’études à Paris, de 1891 à 1894, l’artiste se fait un devoir d’explorer l’éventail des possibles de la peinture : portrait, paysage, scène de genre et nature morte. Il démontre ses capacités dans ces premières œuvres qui utilisent les tonalités avec brio et le pinceau avec une grande facilité.

Ces qualités se retrouvent même dans un sujet modeste comme cette originale nature morte de fraises. De retour dans son village natal d’Arthabaska, dans la région des Bois-Francs, le peintre s’inspire d’un sujet qui révèle son intérêt pour l’observation des éléments du quotidien. Il réunit deux casseaux de fraises l’un, vidé dont les fruits étalés où regroupés, équeutés dans une assiette, et l’autre encore rempli.

L’artiste qui se pose le défi de représenter un sujet aussi simple utilise l’ensemble de ses connaissances. La composition qui surgit de l’ombre repose sur le croisement de figures pyramidales tronquées enchevêtrées et de diagonales qui se croisent sur une forme oblongue. De la perspective, il retient la manière de placer les barquettes à angle afin de donner de la profondeur au sujet. Pour la couleur, il réunit une palette de tons clairs, faites de blanc, de brun et de beige qui font ressortir la couleur rouge des fraises dont le vert des pédoncules s’harmonise avec le tour jade de l’assiette.

Il en résulte une image savoureuse comme l’écrivait la journaliste Robertine Barry devant une autre œuvre représentant le même sujet : « L’illusion était complète ; c’était criant de réalisme et en l’écrivant l’eau m’en vient encore à la bouche. » (”La Patrie”, 12 avril 1897).

Nous désirons remercier l’historien d’art Laurier Lacroix pour son aide dans la recherche de cette œuvre et sa contribution à l’essai précédent.





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Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté
(1869 - 1937) RCA

Suzor-Coté was born in 1869 in the village of Arthabaska, Quebec. Although the young Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté excelled in both musical and artistic pursuits, his love of painting won precedence and he travelled to Paris in 1891 for three years of art studies at the École de beaux-arts. He returned to North America briefly, pursuing commission work, before returning to Europe for an extended period between 1897 and 1907.

By 1906 he had left behind the academic realism of his early work, developing instead a bold impressionistic style. Once back in Canada he found his greatest inspiration in the Canadian landscape itself. He painted landscape in a forceful impressionistic style which was unfamiliar to Canadian audiences of the time.

The multi-talented Suzor-Coté was also easily able to make the shift from painting to working in three dimensions. His bronzes were cast in New York at the Roman Bronze Works, and became sought after by collectors in Canada and the United States. Suzor-Coté won the Jessie Dow prize for best painting at the Art Association of Montreal in 1914 and again in 1925. By 1925, he had made a significant contribution to impressionism in Canada, influencing younger artists to paint the Canadian landscape in a new manner.