Sylvia Daoust

Born in Montreal, Sylvia Daoust studied drawing and sculpture at the Conseil des arts et manufactures in 1915, when she was only 13 years old. The first woman to enroll at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, she graduated in 1929. She tied for first prize in the interprovincial competition organized by Lord Willingdon, the Canadian viceroy.
From 1943 to 1968, she became a professor at the École des beaux-arts de Québec, then at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal. She teaches drawing, anatomy, modeling and sculpture in wood and stone. She is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec. She has participated in several exhibitions in Canada, Italy and the United States.
First a sculptor, Sylvia Daoust also practiced drawing, engraving and painting. His first major commission was the bronze of Brother Marie-Victorin appearing at the entrance to the Montreal Botanical Garden in 1951. At the time, many were offended that a woman was chosen to create this sculpture.
His meeting with Dom Bello, the architect of the Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, will be decisive for his career. He asked him to work on the decoration of Saint Joseph's Oratory with the French sculptor Henri Charlier. Sylvia Daoust's artistic career is long and prolific. His work includes portraits, busts, medals, sculptures in wood, stone and bronzes, including those of Nicolas Viel on the facade of the National Assembly, Marguerite Bourgeois and Marguerite d'Youville at the Notre-Dame basilica. , Joan of Arc at Saint Joseph's Oratory, the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Universe in the apse of the Cathedral Marie-Reine-du-Monde. Sylvia Daoust's work belongs to a period of revival of religious art. The artist also created some abstract works for herself. She admired the work of Henry Moore and the audacity of Armand Vaillancourt who was one of her students.

Source: https://artpublicmontreal.ca/artiste/daoust-sylvia/