Sculptor Mario Bartolini had achieved a modicum of fame some six decades back: the Montreal-born son of Italian immigrants had a few works shown at the famed Musée Rodin in Paris in the 1960s, plus he had several pieces displayed at the Musée national des beaux-arts in Quebec City, as well as three large sculptures featured at the Expo 67 site.

But apart from some art aficionados or those he taught in the ’70s and early ’80s at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, few had been aware of him. Few knew that he had created a massive body of work, over 300 highly imaginative, mostly quirky sculptures — abstract and figurative — of varying sizes, made of stone, metal, wood and terracotta that he had crammed in his home over the years.

His family had been abundantly aware. They were forever tripping over some of it — that which had not been hidden away in the basement. They also felt his work merited attention and should be on display at a gallery exhibition.

Before his father’s death at 85 in 2015, Dino Bartolini, one of Mario’s four sons, had frequently asked if he could put together a retrospective of Mario’s work. Not only did Mario always put the kibosh on such a plan, he also........

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