O-457.1

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painting (portrait)

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The Honourable Louis-Philippe Brodeur

Portrait of Speaker Louis-Philippe Brodeur

Louis-Philippe Brodeur, born in Beloeil, Quebec in 1862, was a strong ally of Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, who made him Speaker in 1901. In 1904 he joined the cabinet in a series of portfolios that included Inland Revenue and then marine and fisheries, where he brought in a bill to establish Canada’s Navy. He retired from politics in 1911 and Laurier appointed him to the Supreme Court. Shortly before his death in 1924, he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Quebec. Ozias Leduc’s 1904 portrait has an unusually casual feel for an official portrait of the time, and a notable sheen on Brodeur’s robes.

Ozias Leduc

Ozias Leduc was born in Saint-Hilaire, Quebec in 1864, into a family that instilled in him the importance of hard work. He was largely self taught yet became one of the most important Canadian painters of his time. He made portraits, still-lifes and landscapes of the surrounding countryside. He decorated many churches, including the Bishop’s Chapel in Sherbrooke, assisted by a young Paul-Émile Borduas, and Notre-Dame-de-la-Presentation in Shawinigan, which is now a National Historic Site. He died in 1955, as the National Gallery was preparing a exhibition of his work to tour Canada.