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

Marc-Aurèle D.F. Suzor-Coté
Sunset

oil on board
8.5 x 10.5 ins ( 21.6 x 26.7 cms )

Auction Estimate: $15,000.00$10,000.00 - $15,000.00

Price Realized $11,210.00
Sale date: May 28th 2019

Provenance:
Masters Gallery, Calgary
Private Collection, Calgary
Literature:
Laurier Lacroix, Suzor-Coté: Light and Matter, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2002, page 220
Suzor-Coté studied the variations of light at different times of day, and he made a number of plein-air sketches which gave him unlimited scope for this endeavour. “Sunset” serves as an example of these small oil sketches, depicting an enchanting and glowing scene of the sun setting through the clouds behind leafy trees. Laurier Lacroix remarks on the importance of landscape painting in Suzor-Coté’s body of work: “until the end of his working life, it was in landscapes that Suzor-Coté re-formulated his vision of painting. More than any subject, seasonal and climatic changes–as well as variations of light on topography‒dictated different ways of framing a subject, suggesting space, and applying paint in a range of colours using a variety of techniques.”

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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.