Clarence Alphonse Gagnon,
R.C.A., (8 November 1881 – 5 January 1942) was a French
Canadian painter, draughtsman, engraver and illustrator,
from the province of Quebec. He is well known for his
landscape paintings of the Laurentians and the
Charlevoix region of eastern Quebec.
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Clarence Alphonse Gagnon was
born in Montreal on November 8, 1881. He was the son of
Alphonse E. Gagnon, a milling manager, and a cultured
English mother, who was interested in literature. Part
of his childhood was spent in Sainte Rose, a village
north of Montreal. Early in life, his mother had
encouraged him to learn drawing and painting, but his
father wanted him to become a businessman.
He studied with William Bremner
at the Art Association of Montreal in 1897. Desiring to
improve his knowledge of art, he went to the Académie
Julian in Paris, and studied under Jean-Paul Laurens
from 1904 to 1905. Before returning to Canada in 1909,
Gagnon spent time painting in France and Italy.
He then lived in
Baie-Saint-Paul, where he produced many paintings
depicting nature and the Canadian people. He invented a
new kind of winter landscape that consisted of
mountains, valleys, sharp contrasts, vivid colours, and
sinuous lines. He became a member of the Royal Canadian
Academy of Arts in 1922.
Gagnon took trips to Venice,
Rouen, Saint-Malo and the Laurentians in Quebec to paint
landscapes. He illustrated the pages of the novel Maria
Chapdelaine by Louis Hémon. As well, he was the
illustrator for Louis-Frédéric Rouquette in 1929 in Le
Grand silence Blanc. He lived in France from 1924 to
1936.
In 1919 Gagnon married Lucile
Rodier, also a pupil of William Bremner. Gagnon advanced
modernist painting within Canada. One of his disciples
was the painter René Richard. Gagnon's works were
exhibited at Gallery L'Art Français. His paintings and
etchings are included in collections at The National
Gallery (Ottawa), The Art Gallery of Toronto, Montreal
Art Association Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Victoria
and Albert Museum (London), Walker Gallery (Liverpool),
Manchester Art Gallery (England), and Petit Palais
(Paris). His works are also held in collections in
Halifax, Saint John (N.B.), The Hague, Dresden, Florence
and Venice.
Royal Victoria Hospital in
Montreal. He was survived by his wife and three
brothers, Wilford, Ernest and Frederick. He is buried at
the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. A bust
has been erected in his memory by the Galerie Clarence
Gagnon in Quebec City.
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