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

BIBLIOGRAPHIE
Pierre L'Allier, Suzor-Coté, L'oeuvre sculpté, Musée du Québec, 1991, reproduced pages 48 and 49, catalogue #7 and #7a
Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté, Light and Matter, National Gallery of Canada and Musée du Québec, 2002, page 224, reproduced page 236

In 1901, Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Coté produced his first sculpture in clay, and by 1907 was casting in bronze. He had studied sculpture in Paris at well~known art schools, and while in France in 1911, spent many hours with renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin. In sculptures such as La compagne du vieux pionnier (The Companion of the Old Pioneer), Suzor-Coté was able, through his long observation of French-Canadian habitants, to transmit their admirable qualities. As Charles L. Sibley wrote in 1914, “Those who don’t know the French Canadian people have no idea of the pride of Suzor-Coté’s people in him. And he in them. Travel has opened his eyes to what the people of his race stand for - to their genuine simplicity and sweetness of heart. He sees character, character, character everywhere…Nothing enthuses him like his own ancestral country and the old customs of his race.” The Companion is introspective, absorbed in her knitting - her posture reflects a life of hard work, although her features are fine-boned and her hands are strong. She is a moving symbol of the humble yet enduring French-Canadian rural woman, the backbone of her family and society.

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

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