Cap Barré Percé, Québec, 1930

Celebrated by painters and photographers alike, Percé Rock and the town of Percé are now a heritage site and among the most spectacular places in Quebec. Pilot exhibited View at Percé, Quebec at the RCA in 1930 and two years later at the AAM, the same year he received his first Jessie Dow Prize. [1] In 1930, he also created an etching titled Percé, Quebec (National Gallery of Canada).

Here, Pilot’s eye skips over the maritime activity and impressive rock to focus on the jagged topography of the cliffs along the town’s northern coastline. As seen in photographs taken by Notman Studio circa 1900 (McCord) and in a drawing made by Simone Hudon around 1920 (Musée de la civilisation), the coast, bordered by the newly completed Highway 132 (1929), is marked, from north to south, by the Pic de l’Aurore, Les Trois Soeurs, Cap Barré, Anse du Nord, the beach and a wharf, all seen from Cap Mont-Joli.

The artist painted two different scenes here, one farther than the other. The first, dated 1930, is a loose brushwork sketch on panel that portrays a fisherman sitting in a boat, stranded on the shore. The second, undated, is more luminous and complete, displaying a few fishermen’s houses on the left and, on the right, the beach with onlookers on the wharf. This composition embraces a broader perspective that showcases the area’s entire topography, including Gaspé Bay in the distance. Pilot painted many different versions of this same site, including one with a stormy sea.

Mario Béland

Mario Béland holds a Ph.D. in art history from Université Laval and was curator of Art Ancien du Québec at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec from 1985 to 2014. He has curated, coordinated and collaborated on over 40 permanent or temporary exhibitions, some of which were accompanied by important catalogues and won prestigious excellence awards. His curatorial work includes monographs on sculptors Louis Jobin (1986) and Jean-Baptiste Côté (1996) and painters Antoine Plamondon (2005) and Napoléon Bourassa (2011). His thematic exhibitions include Painting in Quebec, 1820-1850 (1991–1992), Restauration en sculpture ancienne (1994), Les Génies de la mer (2001), and Québec et ses photographes, 1850-1908 (2008). Author of Marius Barbeau et l'art au Québec (1985) and a book on painter Eugène Hamel (2007), Béland has also published hundreds of articles, essays and notes in magazines, collective works and exhibition catalogues. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 2009, Béland was the recipient of the Prix Carrière from the Société des musées du Québec in 2014, the Award of Distinguished Service from the Canadian Museums Association in 2016, and the Award of Excellence in the Professional category from the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec in 2021.

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Footnote:

[1] This is a view of Quebec City entitled Indian summer, Quebec (current location unknown).