“Alfred Laliberté kneaded his models with the faith of a son of the same earth. As the figures were born under his fingers, other themes emerged; some willingly entering into the plastic form, others offering a challenge to the art of the sculptor. The artist was not afraid to annex them all. The entire work is considerable: executed under the fire of inspiration in a relatively short time, it presents a documentary interest that our artists of the future will know how to take advantage of. And it is a great service that Alfred Laliberté will have rendered to French-Canadian posterity. The laborious life of the ancestors in its daily rhythm, the fears, or the daring born from their fertile imagination. The acts of faith in the ritual gestures accomplished by each generation, all the witnesses of this life marked with the precious seal of unity, were worth being cast in bronze before they disappear into oblivion. Art once again will have fulfilled its primary mission; tying the fabric of the past into the present to outline the future.”

Excerpt, translated from French, from the preface to Legends of customs and professions of New France, written by Charles Maillard, Director General of Fine Arts of the province of Quebec in 1934.