36.5(L) x 21(H) x 24.5(W)

Quebec. Ca: 1930. An exquisite mixed media diorama "Maple Sugar Time" by Adelard Brousseau of St. Jacques de Montcalm, Quebec. Brousseau was an exceptionally creative man, very active in many trades (contractor, jeweller, stone carver), when he was suddenly struck by an unknown sickness. The main effect of this sickness, apart from its painful condition, was to keep him from sleeping at night. In order to occupy himself while his family was sleeping, he started carving one by one the figures, the tools, the animals which were going to make up this wonderful rendition of a traditional Quebec rural scene. The village priest, M. Piette, seeing how his parishioner's health was declining, declared a "novena" (period of communal praying, usually nine days) for the return of the man's health. Probably inspired by the words of Voltaire "work protects man from boredom. Sickness, and need", the priest offered Adelard the following: "My Dear Adelard. If you regain your health, you will have to give your Maple Sugar Scene to the parish". Adélard Brousseau agreed, but it was only after many months of prayers and care that he recovered. As agreed, the scene was completed and turned over to the parish, and it's new priest Angelus Houle. Houle was a good friend of the artist and decided to exploit the commercial potential of such a gift by displaying it for a fee at various fairs, and public exhibitions of the district. Brousseau's daughter, Madam Dion, remembers that when she was a little girl her father's Maple Sugar Scene was a great attraction at the fairs, and people would line up to view it, in spite of the high entrance fee for the time: (10 cents for children, 25 cents for adults). Madam Dion relates that sadly she did not have the means as a child to view "the masterpiece that her papa had created at night, in his dark little workshop". She had seen the miniature figures dressed in woolen cloths, the horses, the carts, the buildings, but never the whole scene in its actual presentation. Many years later, in June 1992, the Maple Sugar Scene was only a vague childhood memory for Madam Dion, when suddenly it is brought back into her life by a telephone call from a nun named Sister Therese who explains that she had bought the scene from Angelus Houle, a long time ago, on the understanding that she would eventually return it to the artist's family. The time had come to fulfill this promise, and she was ready to deliver the piece to Madam Dion. Madam Dion kept her father's masterpiece for three years. When she decided to sell her house and move into an apartment, she was forced to sell the Maple Sugar Scene. 36.5(L) x 21(H) x 24.5(W)". From the Susan Murray Collection. $18000/25000.