The revival of sacred art
With the 20th century came a veritable explosion in the
development of human societies. There was a radical shift in people's ways of thinking and
doing things. In the arts, this took the form of a break with aesthetic traditions:
subjects were removed from paintings, melodies from music and ornamentation from
architecture. The rupture was less obvious in sacred art, where emphasis was placed on
simplicity, modern materials and medieval "authenticity."
The revival began with a rejection of the art of the
previous century. Sculptures covered with tinplate and faux-marble columns, along with
their plaster capitals, were harshly criticized. This condemnation originated in French
Canada in the 1920s with Marius Barbeau, an ethnologist, Dom Bellot, a Benedictine monk,
Gérard Morisset, an art historian, and Monseigneur Olivier Maurault.
Wilfrid Corbeil, c.s.v., took an active part in this new
movement, in both his writing and his designs. In 1936, his first architectural work was
built, a log chapel that was very innovative in its use of raw materials. Dozens of
projects, works and articles followed, all of them reflecting man's motivations: Beauty,
the Sacred and the desire to keep pace with the modern world.
In 1946, Corbeil and a French abbot named André Lecouley
founded Le Retable, a group of artists, both religious and secular, whose aim was
to perpetuate the tradition of religious art. In addition to producing works, the group
led the debate, publishing a magazine, Art et Pensée, conducting lectures and
holding exhibitions. Sculptor Max Boucher, c.s.v., joined the group in the 1950s.
