PROVENANCE
The Elizabeth T. Greenshields Memorial Foundation, Montreal, 1970
A Prominent Montreal Family Estate

LITERATURE
Pierre L'Allier, Suzor-Coté, l'oeuvre sculpté, Musée du Québec, 1991, reproduced page 46, catalogue #6 and #6a
Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté, Light and Matter, National Gallery of Canada and Musée du Québec, 2002, page 235, reproduced page 237

Le vieux pionnier Canadien (The Old Canadian Pioneer) was first exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal exhibition in 1913. Léon Lorrain described the sculpture as “a commendable form of nationalism.” In this humbly dressed pioneer, sitting in his rocking chair while smoking his pipe, Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Coté captured the inner strength of early Quebec settlers, who cleared the land for farming. Laurier Lacroix writes, “Suzor-Coté’s sculpture was perceived to have succeeded in transmitting the character of the intrinsic ‘soul’ of Frenc-Canadian rural residents, the pillars of a nation.” La compagne du vieux pionnier, lot 195, is considered to be a companion to this work, and although the two sculptures were created separately, they were exhibited as a pair, and have grown to be regarded as icons of Canadian art. These sculptures are considered to be an inseparable pair, symbolic of the tenacity and perseverance of Canadian rural life.

This sculpture is a second cast, done from the original plaster around the time the artist passed away, produced between 1937 and 1950.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars