Born in Athabaska, Quebec in 1869, Marc-Aurele de Foy Suzor-Cotè was the youngest of 10 children. He began to decorate churches in 1887. His family connections enabled him to meet Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, from whom he received many commissions.

Between 1891 and 1912, he travelled extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe, particularly in France, where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and at the Julian and Colarossi academies in Paris.

After returning to Canada in 1912, by which time his reputation was already firmly established, he worked in his studios in Athabaska and Montreal.

Suzor-Cotè was influenced by Impressionalism. Although best known as a landscape painter, he also painted great historical events, and did intimate portraits such as the sketch of a young lady in 1925 on Redkettle. He suffered from paralysis in 1927 and died 10 years later in Daytona Beach, Florida.

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