PROVENANCE
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
A Distinguished Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Daily Witness (Montreal), March 24, 1906, page 12

EXHIBITED
Possibly exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal, 23rd Spring Exhibition, March 23 - April 14, titled Oignons, nature morte, #159

Eager to maintain contact with the Canadian public while living in France since 1897, Suzor-Coté regularly exhibited his paintings in Montreal. In September 1901, he presented a major exhibition of 65 works at the Scott & Sons Gallery. He also sent works annually to the Spring Salon of the Art Association of Montreal (now the MMFA). In 1906, he presented six paintings, including five French landscapes and a still life. The landscapes were commented on in the press, as was the still life that the Daily Witness critic described as follows:

“It was by his exquisite still-life work that he [Suzor-Coté] became so favorably known to the art-loving public of Montreal, and he shows an exceedingly fine example of that class of work, painted four years ago – 'Oignons, nature morte' (no. 159). It is simple enough — a copper pan and a bunch of Spanish onions — but the fine sense of form, the accuracy of the composition, and the tone, together with the entire absence of dead color in the picture, stamp it as a first-class type of this kind of work, and render it a valuable object-lesson to students who wish to find out for themselves how such good effects in such objects are to be obtained.”

From the 1890s, Suzor-Coté became known for his still lifes. His subjects, mainly flowers, provided him with the opportunity to express his talent, as the journalist remarked. Indeed, the artist combines skilled draughtsmanship and a nuanced sense of color which commands the composition. The impasto pictorial material translates the plants in a voluptuous way. Modest onions, partly peeled, held in bunches, are piled up near the pot. Yellow unfolds from lemon to ochre, surrounded by umber and greens. The subject fascinated the artist, who treated it in a different way in the same year. The National Gallery of Canada has a painting (Accession no. 18757) of the same dimensions and a more balanced organization. The larger copper cauldron is flanked by a pewter pitcher which, together with the garlic clove, adds a darker tone to the harmony of the painting.

We thank Dr. Laurier Lacroix, professor emeritus of the Faculty of Arts at the University du Québec à Montréal and author of the book Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter, for contributing the above essay, translated from the French.

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