Alfred Laliberté

Alfred Laliberté, sculptor, painter, memorialist (b at Ste-Élisabeth de Warwick, Qué 19 May 1878; d at Montréal 13 Jan 1953). In 1896 he began studying modelling and design at the Conseil des arts et manufactures (CAM), Montréal. In 1902 he left for Paris, where he studied at the École des beaux-arts, met SUZOR-COTÉ and had several showings at the Salon du printemps. He was named a professor at the CAM, Montréal, in 1907, and had his first showing at the Art Association.

His work totalled some 925 bronze, marble, plaster and wooden statues, plus about 500 canvases of lesser interest. He sculpted busts, historical statues (BALDWIN, BRÉ BEUF), public and commemorative monuments (LAURIER, Louis HÉBERT), allegorical and religious statues, and over 200 small bronzes illustrating legends, customs and rural trades. While influenced by various sources, his work reflects the nationalist and conservative ideology of his Québec contemporaries who gloried in their national history and were strongly attached to the land. Three of Laliberté's manuscripts appeared in 1978 under the title, Mes souvenirs.

Author JOHN R. PORTER