Clarence Gagnon (Clarence-Alphonse Gagnon)
1881-1942
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Clarence Gagnon began to draw and paint under his mother’s sympathetic eye. It was his mother who read him stories and showed him illustrations for her books, particularly those of French artist Paul Doré, which likely developed Gagnon’s interest in engraving. At the age of 16, he had completed his commercial education at the École du Plateau, and his father tried to get him to enter business.
But Clarence wanted to become an artist, and began taking classes at the Art Association of Montreal, studying drawing and painting under William Brymner. In the summer of 1899 he spent some time in Lower Quebec where he did paintings that won him prize money from the Art Association of Montreal. After two years at the Association, he worked for prominent architect William Maxwell, R.C.A, and spent his summers in St. Joachim. At Maxwell’s home in 1902, Gagnon made his first drypoint etching no bigger than a visiting card. Gagnon probably studied the engravings of Rembrandt as he once told Robert Pilot about the time he and another artist secured the loan of six small etched copper plates by the Dutch master with which they made several copies.
About 1903 his talent was noticed by merchant and business magnate James Morgan, who gave him money to study in Paris in exchange for his paintings done while there. After the year he asked Morgan for more money to visit Italy, Spain and France, and Morgan agreed. Morgan also agreed to drop the agreement when it was to the advantage of Gagnon who then wanted to make his own way. He took classes under Laurens at Paris’ Académie Julian, and in 1905, his “Oxen ploughing” won a medal at the St. Louis Exhibition. In 1906 he received honourable mention for one of his etchings. His work in this medium was acquired by galleries in Dresden, Florence, Venice, Mulhausen, the Hague, Paris at Le Petit Palais and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Many of these etchings were scenes of Venice, Brittany and Normandy.
In 1909 he returned to Canada and settled in the Baie St. Paul area. There in Charlevoix County he painted scenes of habitant life and was soon a familiar figure in the community. He became an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1910 and a full member in 1922. From 1911 to 1914 he divided his time between Montreal, Paris and Baie St. Paul. In Paris he continued to paint canvases based on his earlier sketches of Quebec villages, and refreshed his memories of snow and the northern atmosphere with occasional winter visits to Norway.
Upon his return to Canada in 1914, he discovered that several of his canvases hard darkened, cracked and changed colour. Suspecting that this was due to the poor quality of manufactured paints, he started using powdered colours from Paris, which he ground with poppy seed and amber varnish. From 1916 to 1941 his palette consisted of flake white, rouge brilliant, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, ultra-marine, blue celeste, cobalt violet and meridian.
By 1917 he was back in France where he remained for two years then returned to Canada in 1919. He married and remained in Canada until 1924. At Baie St. Paul he sketched with Edwin Holgate and A.Y. Jackson. Gagnon went back to Paris where he lived and worked for twelve years, during which time he illustrated L.F. Pouquette’s "Le grand silence blanc" in 1929 and Louis Hémon’s "Maria Chapdelaine" in 1933, both published by Mornay of Paris. Contrary to regular practice, he kept the originals and he had written into the contract that the plates were to be destroyed and the originals to remain his property. Later they were to be purchased by the Quebec Minister of Fine Arts, but he died and the transaction never went through, and they were finally purchased by Col. R.S. McLaughlin.
The Art Club of Montreal honoured Gagnon on his return to Canada in 1936 and in 1938 his 54 original paintings of "Maria Chapdelaine" were exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal and at the National Gallery of Canada. He died at the age of 60 in Québec. After his death in 1942, a memorial exhibition of his work was organized by the National Gallery of Canada.
Collections:
- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON)
- Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Quebec, QC)
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal, QC)
- Museum of New Brunswick (St. Johns, NB)
- Public Archives of Nova Scotia
- Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, NB)
- Power Corporation of Canada (Montreal, QC)
- Firestone Art Collection (Ottawa, ON)
Affiliations:
- Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (1910)
- Royal Canadian Academy (1922-1942)
