Olindo Gratton (1855-1941) - Religion et sculpture

Page 3 — Biographical Study

Part 1. An Artist to Be (1855-1888)

Background

Joseph-Olindo Gratton was born, the son of a farmer, on November 23, 1855, in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville. The young Olindo began classical studies in 1869 at the Petit Séminaire in Sainte-Thérèse; by the end of the school year, he had distinguished himself in French reading, grammar, and violin. Violin was an elective — so was drawing, a subject which he might have taken for the first time. The drawing course had been restructured in 1865 by Joseph Chabert, who was a former student at the École Impériale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and a recent immigrant to Quebec. Chabert would later play a key role in the instruction of the arts in Montreal.

Olindo did not go any further in his classical studies. Instead, in 1871, he moved to Montreal, probably with the intention of gaining employment in the small leather industry, which had already attracted other members of his family. This was a time of a large exodus of people from the country to the city. Olindo's aptitude for language and art led him to enrol in the École Normale Jacques-Cartier around 1872-73, a school which was able to offer him a solid education. Napoléon Bourassa had taught drawing there in 1862 — in 1873-74, this course was offered by someone by the name of L'Hérault.


Apprenticeship

Around 1872-73, Olindo entered into the atelier of Montreal sculptor Charles Dauphin. A career in sculpture must have seemed promising in Montreal at the time because, despite an economic recession, many churches were under construction. Dauphin's atelier was the most renowned in the francophone milieu and it received a great variety of commissions, two factors which made it the most desirable place for apprenticing sculptors.

Dauphin had done his apprenticeship with Urbain Brien dit Desrochers. In 1849, he accepted Augustin Buteau into his atelier; he also trained J.-Arthur Vincent (1852-1903), as well as J.-Lucien-Alfred Benoit (1850-1935). Joseph Brunet (1857-?) began his apprenticeship at the same time as Gratton. At the time of the master's death in 1874, his three sons were also working in the atelier. The atelier's traditional bias gave Gratton the opportunity to acquire the basics of ornamental sculpture while working on projects which may have included the three altars for Pictou that the atelier produced in 1874. In addition, it is possible that Gratton was introduced to wood statuary by Dauphin, given that the atelier had undertaken a commission to carve a Sainte-Famille for the Nazareth Chapel in Montreal (circa 1870-72). Subsequently, Gratton formed a company with Dauphin's youngest son, the architect Joseph- Arthur-Henri (1856-?). He was probably put in charge of ornamental carpentry and fine wood-working. We are unaware of any of their projects; however, we do know that HA. [sic] Dauphin signed plans for a De Maisonneuve memorial (1879).

The first statues that Gratton carved were six religious works (1877-79); the pretext for their production remains unknown. At this time, any aspiring statuary artists who desired academic training were able to take courses at the Council of Arts and Manufactures' school or at the Institut National des Beaux-Arts. These schools initially catered to working class tradesmen, but, by the end of the 19th century, the majority of the area 's French-Canadian artists had studied there. François-C. Van Luppen taught sculptural modelling at the Council's school from 1876 to 1882, while at the rival school, sculpture was taught by Ernest Cleff from 1874 to 1876. As for private instruction, it should be pointed out that Bourassa, with the help of Louis-Philippe Hébert, wanted to found a school of sculpture and statuary art (1879).

Gratton was not one of Bourassa's apprentices during the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Chapel (MontreaI) project, as were Hébert and his former colleague Benoit, but the circumstances were such that he would soon have more contact with the master. In 1881, Gratton began working for Hébert, in Bourassa's atelier.

In 1883, in the company of these two founding members of the Canadian Academy of Arts, Gratton, the artisan, discovered within himself his identity as an "artist" or "artist- sculptor." The artistic recognition that Bourassa and Hébert enjoyed showed that pursuing religious themes did not necessarily result in exclusion from the official contemporary art milieu. The power of Bourassa's erudition and personality most likely made a deep impression on Gratton, the master providing him with an intellectual base for his work to come — the aesthetic that Bourassa advocated served the dominant ideology, which was "religion and loyalty to one's native land" (Religion et Patrie). In light of the above, we can consider Gratton to be one of the disciples of Bourassa, alongside the master's pupils Hébert and François-Édouard Meloche.


"Foreman of the Atelier"

Hébert set up his own atelier around 1882. While in his service, Gratton looked to Hébert to increase his knowledge of statuary, and we believe he even assumed the position as the atelier's foreman; the experience he already possessed qualified him for this position. This is our interpretation given that his colleague Philippe Laperle (1860-1934), had joined the atelier in 1882, only as a novice. While in the service of Hébert's prolific workshop, Gratton had the opportunity to practice various types of wood sculpture (ornamental and statuary, religious and secular) and it is possible that he oversaw the preparation of the models and moulds required in bronze casting. His sculptural achievements from this time include a significant contribution to the statuary of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ottawa (1879-87). His name is also associated with the production of the altar of the old Saint-Jacques Church in Montreal (circa 1885-88) and the statues of the Chaire de Vérité of Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal (1883-87).

From a stylistic point of view, it is difficult to distinguish Gratton's contribution to these works. (His later works would be characterized by a certain rigidity and linear quality that are, in fact, inherent to wood sculpture.)

Gratton was both Hébert's employee and student. In 1883-84, he took Hébert's sculptural modelling course, and in 1886 he took an anatomy course which Hébert was teaching at the Council's school (Laperle also took these courses). The idea of acquiring work-related training in an academic context was indicative of the changes that the small ateliers were undergoing at the time. Gratton might also have attended the Institut National around 1885-87. At that time, Chabert was focusing his instruction on artistic creation. This would have provided Gratton with a welcome complement to the training of a very practical nature offered at the Council's school.