Regional Art Collection

(Untitled), (Date unknown)
Painted wood
Man: 38.8 x 8.5 x 8 cm
Woman: 38.1 x 9 x 8.3 cm

Born in 1910 in Demers-Centre (L’Isle-aux-Allumettes), Albert Demers began carving animals and figures at a young age, which he sold at the Pembroke (Ontario) market. He focused on wood sculpture inspired by local wildlife and his environment. Best known among collectors for his talent as an animal sculptor, he gained some renown from the 1930s to the 1960s, counting various prominent personalities of the time among his clients. Most of his buyers were tourists from Ontario and the United States. His skill was quickly recognized, and he was commissioned to create religious sculptures, likenesses of celebrities, commercial signs, and painted murals. Due to poor health, he was eventually unable to make a living from his sculpture. He passed away on March 29, 1989, leaving behind an exceptional and prolific body of work. The full scope of his oeuvre is not entirely known but includes sculptures of the Dionne quintuplets (circa 1937); the Virgin Mary surrounded by a group of angels (Marian Congress, Ottawa, 1947); the royal couple (Royal Visit to Canada, 1939); as well as murals in the homes of Al Capone (Chicago, circa 1930) and Clark Gable.