Algonquins
66.3 cms x 64.09 cms x 20.96 cms (26.12 ins x 25.25 ins x 26.12 ins)
Signed, titled, dated 1916 and embossed with the foundry stamp r. hohwiller, fondeur, paris
sculpted in 1916
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "Fine Canadian Art Fall 2006 Live auction" held on Fri, Nov 24, 2006.
Lot 115
Lot 115
Estimate: CAD $15,000 - $20,000
Realised: CAD $63,250
Realised: CAD $63,250
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
Literature:
Louis-Philippe Hébert, Musée du Québec, 2001, the bronze produced from this plaster entitled Algonquins reproduced page 256; a 1921 black and white archival photograph of the clay original reproduced page 356; and a related large bronze installed outside at the Assemblée nationale du Québec entitled La Halte dans la forêt reproduced page 249
Notes:
Louis-Philippe Hébert's sculptural legacy immortalizes the heroes and epic events of a nation's historical development. His dedicatory oeuvre ranged from the specificity of commemorative monuments honouring Sir George-Étienne Cartier and Queen Victoria, to generalized representations such as those centred on First Nations narratives, a theme that had captured the artist's attention at an early age, as expressed in his memoir "Étapes de ma vie" of 1901.
Significantly, one of Hébert's earliest major commissions was the magnificent La Halte dans la forêt, which portrays a Native American family: father, mother and children. The model for this monument won the young artist a bronze medal at the Exposition universelle de Paris in 1889 and, once cast in bronze, was installed outside the Assemblée nationale du Québec in September 1890. Close to three decades later, a year prior to his death, Hébert produced the smaller-scale plaster Algonquins, from which bronzes were commissioned through the Parisian Hohwiller Foundry, including the work now in the collection of the Musée du Québec.
Algonquins is classically executed in the French Academic style, with an elegant expressiveness reflective of its epoch. Neither laden with allegory nor fraught with factual detail, the work evades evanescent sentimentality, consistent with its purpose as a lasting memorial. Indeed, the sculpture resonates with the grandeur and mystique of the monumental La Halte. Yet its smaller size and the tactile quality of its plaster surface serve to impart a sense of immediacy and intimacy that transcends historicism. Beyond its tribute to the peoples of Canada's First Nations, this exquisite sculpture is an enduring and ageless evocation of the very notion of family. In addition, as a surviving plaster sculpture from which the Algonquins bronze originates, it holds a unique place in the oeuvre of Canada's most celebrated sculptors of the turn of the last century.
Private Collection, Montreal
Literature:
Louis-Philippe Hébert, Musée du Québec, 2001, the bronze produced from this plaster entitled Algonquins reproduced page 256; a 1921 black and white archival photograph of the clay original reproduced page 356; and a related large bronze installed outside at the Assemblée nationale du Québec entitled La Halte dans la forêt reproduced page 249
Notes:
Louis-Philippe Hébert's sculptural legacy immortalizes the heroes and epic events of a nation's historical development. His dedicatory oeuvre ranged from the specificity of commemorative monuments honouring Sir George-Étienne Cartier and Queen Victoria, to generalized representations such as those centred on First Nations narratives, a theme that had captured the artist's attention at an early age, as expressed in his memoir "Étapes de ma vie" of 1901.
Significantly, one of Hébert's earliest major commissions was the magnificent La Halte dans la forêt, which portrays a Native American family: father, mother and children. The model for this monument won the young artist a bronze medal at the Exposition universelle de Paris in 1889 and, once cast in bronze, was installed outside the Assemblée nationale du Québec in September 1890. Close to three decades later, a year prior to his death, Hébert produced the smaller-scale plaster Algonquins, from which bronzes were commissioned through the Parisian Hohwiller Foundry, including the work now in the collection of the Musée du Québec.
Algonquins is classically executed in the French Academic style, with an elegant expressiveness reflective of its epoch. Neither laden with allegory nor fraught with factual detail, the work evades evanescent sentimentality, consistent with its purpose as a lasting memorial. Indeed, the sculpture resonates with the grandeur and mystique of the monumental La Halte. Yet its smaller size and the tactile quality of its plaster surface serve to impart a sense of immediacy and intimacy that transcends historicism. Beyond its tribute to the peoples of Canada's First Nations, this exquisite sculpture is an enduring and ageless evocation of the very notion of family. In addition, as a surviving plaster sculpture from which the Algonquins bronze originates, it holds a unique place in the oeuvre of Canada's most celebrated sculptors of the turn of the last century.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.