PROVENANCE
Canadian Artists Galleries (A.B. Watson)
Walter M. Kearns Salesrooms, Montréal, 5 - 6 décembre 1941, lot 145
S.J. Mendelson, Montréal
Art canadien important, Sotheby’s / Ritchie’s, 30 mai 2005, lot 111
Collection privée, Toronto
Collection privée, Québec

BIBLIOGRAPHIE
«Mr. Suzor-Coté’s Exhibition», Montreal Daily Star, 30 mars 1912, page 14
« Much Good Work at R.C.A. Exhibition », Gazette (Montréal), 21 novembre 1913, page 5
« Versatility Marks Show of Art Works », Gazette, 21 novembre 1927, page 5
« Suzor-Coté’s Work in Rich Profusion », Gazette, 4 décembre 1929, page 6
« Œuvre de Suzor-Coté au Arts Club », Gazette, 30 novembre 1940, page 19
« Works by Suzor-Coté Auctioned Tonight », Gazette, 6 décembre 1941, page 12
Michael Ballantyne, « Suzor-Côté Retrospective », Montreal Star, Entertainment Supplement, 12 décembre 1964, reproduit page 12
Hughes de Jouvancourt, Suzor-Coté, 1967, reproduit page 51
Jean-René Ostiguy, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, 1978, mentionné page 22
Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté : Lumière et matière, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada et Musée du Québec, 2002, reproduit page 247 et répertorié page 342

EXPOSITION
William Scott & Sons Gallery, Montréal, mars 1912, catalogue no 24
Art Association of Montreal, 35th Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibition, Montréal, 21 novembre - 20 décembre 1913, catalogue #292
Winnipeg Industrial Bureau, 4th Special Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibition, janvier 1914, catalogue no 132
École des beaux-arts de Montréal, Rétrospective Suzor-Coté, 3 - 20 décembre 1929, catalogue #28
The Arts Club, Montréal, 30 novembre 1940
Galerie l’art vivant, Montréal, Rétrospective Suzor-Coté, 2 - 31 décembre 1964, catalogue #5
North York Public Library, Toronto, juillet - septembre 1965
Edward P. Taylor Reference Library & Audio-Visual Center, Toronto, 17 octobre 1983 - 26 février 1984
Musée du Québec, Québec, Suzor-Coté: Lumière et matière, 10 octobre 2002 - 5 janvier 2003, en tournée en 2003 au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Ottawa

In 1908, Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Coté returned from Paris and continued his experimental approach to painting. His explorations in colour, space and pictorial matter were unique in Canadian painting at the time. Critics were astonished at how he combined these visual innovations with landscapes and rural subjects. The artist drew inspiration from his hometown of Arthabaska, painting its winter scenes, river views and portraits of its inhabitants.

The painting La fille du pionnier combines the portrait of a young peasant with the details of a mosaic-like landscape. The figure of the young woman stands out in the foreground. While her bust in profile occupies a relatively understated space on the canvas, despite her red garment, her face is turned towards the viewer, becoming the central element of the painting. The striped shawl covering her head isolates her face, which appears to float above her small frame. She is a romantic presence in this evocative space created by the layering of different textures.

The spatial layout of this composition places the figure atop the background with no transition. This way of structuring the pictorial space, by closely linking the model to her environment, heralds some of the portrait work of Prudence Heward or Edwin Holgate. Suzor-Coté made a series of works featuring a young woman in an outdoor setting, including Pastourelle à Vallangoujard (Seine-et-Oise) (1899), collection of Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, and Jeunesse et soleil (1913), collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Here, however, the near to square shape of the canvas imposes a different structure.

The landscape is rendered through bands of colour arranged at slight diagonals, lending a dynamic energy to the image. These layers are then set off by dabs of colour in different shapes and sizes that accentuate the stratification of the sections, where greens and turquoise alternate with browns and purplish oranges. The bluish tones of the woman’s shawl, moving from light to dark, are echoed in the horizon line and the sky. A band intersecting the middle of the landscape appears to be a body of water, gently mirroring the upper portion of the scene. This abstracted, suggested landscape serves as a counterpoint to the more sharply contoured figure, painted with parallel brush-strokes that become nearly invisible in her vibrant, luminous complexion.

The artist’s vantage point from slightly above raises the horizon line and highlights the young woman’s charming expression and pleasing, well-defined features. Suzor-Coté’s painting cultivates the art of seduction. Not only does his fresh and innocent subject shyly engage the viewer, but his rich palette, lively brushwork and original composition add to the pleasure in contemplating this painting.

We thank Laurier Lacroix, author of Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter, for contributing the above essay, translated from the French.

Please note: thoughout its extensive exhibition history, this work has also been referred to as La fille du fermier / The Settler's Daughter / The Farmer's Daughter / The Pioneer's Daughter / The Tiller's Daughter.

Tous les prix affichés sont en dollars canadiens

Bien que nous ayons pris soin d’assurer l’exactitude de l’information publiée, des erreurs ou omissions peuvent se produire. Toute enchère est soumise à nos modalités et conditions de vente. Les enchérisseurs doivent s’assurer qu’ils sont satisfaits de la condition du lot avant d’enchérir. Les rapports de condition sont disponibles sur demande.