René Richard (René-Jean Richard)

1895-1982

René Richard was born at Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. His mother was from a family of artists and his father was an engraver who sought new opportunities in Canada. They came to Montreal in 1909, where they lived for two years and where Richard received some elementary education. They then moved to Cold Lake in the province of Alberta where Richard’s father opened a general store and trading post. Richard worked for his father and soon developed a liking for the bush life and the Canadian wilderness. He started going in the woods around the family home with two friends. There he learned the basics of trapping while developing his artistic skills, sketching and drawing.

By 1913, he was trapping for a living with his two good friends, and did so during the next eight years in the Cold Lake area. It was a harsh lifestyle and Richard sometimes went back to work to his father’s shop or worked with the farmers in the summers. During his trips he kept sketching and drawing and got to know the land, its inhabitants and their lifestyle. In 1922, wanting to earn more money, they set out to trap up north in the Fort MacMurray area. The expedition wasn’t a huge financial success, but they still made good earnings which encouraged them to leave for the Great Canadian North to the Mackenzie River area in 1923. With his two good friends, Richard roamed the area, built camps and for the next three years would make a living trapping.

In 1926 Richard left the Mackenzie River area and went to Edmonton. Coming back with a substantial amount from his three year expedition, he realized an old dream and took his first painting lessons. While visiting art galleries during his free time, he met a Frenchman who, seeing Richard’s strong interest in Art, encouraged him greatly to go to Paris. After getting advice from his brother who had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, Richard left Alberta and headed to Montreal to visit his sister. From there he went to New-York where he boarded a boat and left for France in 1927.

Richard wanted to study at École des Beaux-Arts but being thirty-two, he was told that he was too old to be admitted so he started taking classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. At this time, a debate between Traditionalism and Modernism was taking place in the art schools in Paris. Richard was hoping to get a strong academic base with his studies but he was caught between two different approaches. He only wanted to paint and did not feel concerned by the debate. He started feeling a bit lost and thought about coming back to Canada after only four months of classes. In need of direction, he decided sought a friend’s advice at the Canadian Legation, who told him he should go see Clarence Gagnon who was in Paris at this time. Richard met with Clarence Gagnon and from then on, they became great friends.

During the next months, Richard kept painting and learning under the watchful eye of Clarence Gagnon. He studied for a while at the Académie Colarossi and painted at the Louvre and the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. He also sketched and drew in the streets of Paris. During the three years spent in Europe, Richard travelled and painted in certain areas of France and Switzerland, sometimes with Canadian artist Tom Stone or with Clarence Gagnon and his wife. In Europe, Richard lived poorly, and in March of 1930 he decided to leave France and went back to Canada passing again through New-York and Montreal where he visited an artist from whom he saw works in Paris, Albert H. Robinson. From there he went back to Cold Lake in Alberta.

From 1930 to 1936, Richard went back to his old childhood friend and they went back on expeditions trapping in the areas of the Churchill River, the Rockies near Jasper, Fort MacMurray, the Saskatchewan River, Primrose Lake and Cold Lake. At this time, money was scarce so Richard kept drawing on craft paper used for wrapping their supplies.

In 1936, Clarence Gagnon came back to Canada and settled in Baie St-Paul. Richard left Alberta and went to the province of Quebec to join Clarence Gagnon in 1938.

When Richard met up with Clarence Gagnon, they went to St. Petronille on Île d’Orleans near Quebec City where Horatio Walker had just passed away. Richard helped Gagnon make an inventory of Walker’s works in his studio. Afterwards, Richard headed out to the Gaspé region where he got a job as a park warden at Table Mountain. In 1939, the park closed and Richard went to Baie St-Paul where he visited Clarence Gagnon. He visited the area and by 1940, he had also visited the Mauricie and Abitibi regions.

In 1942, he got married to Blanche Cimon and settled definitely in Baie St-Paul, where the sceneries reminded him of Switzerland and some parts of the Great Canadian North. From 1942 to 1947, he mainly painted in the area of Baie St-Paul and Charlevoix region, and then went on an expedition in the Ungava region in Northern Quebec. He would also go back there in 1951.

During the next thirty years Richard relaxed and enjoyed life near Baie St-Paul. He exhibited his works in many solo and group exhibitions from 1945 to 1981, either in established galleries, museums, universities or at other locations. From the early fifties up to the mid-sixties, he mainly painted scenes in his studio, sometimes from old drawings of his earlier expeditions. He also kept painting rural, mountain and coastal scenes in the Charlevoix region. In 1973, he received the Order of Canada and became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1980. He also illustrated two books in 1975 and 1979. A retrospective show was held at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec in 1967 and 1978 and a stamp commemorating Canada Day was made from one of his works in 1982. He died in Baie St-Paul at the age of 86.

Collections:

- Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Quebec, QC)
- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal QC)
- Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal (Montréal, QC)
- Musée d’Art de Joliette (Joliette, QC)
- Musée du Bas-St-Laurent (Rivière-du-Loup, QC)
- Musée Régional de la Côte-Nord (Sept-Îles, QC)
- Musée des beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, QC)
- Musée de Lachine (Lachine, QC)
- Musée de Charlevoix (La Malbaie, QC)
- Musée Louis-Hémon (Péribonka, QC)
- Musée de la Civilisation (Quebec City, QC)
- Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery (Owen Sound, ON)
- Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax, NS)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON)
- Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- René Richard Foundation
- La Pulperie de Chicoutimi (Chicoutimi, QC)
- Université de Montréal (Montreal, QC)
- Power Corporation of Canada (Montreal, QC)

Affiliations:

- Royal Canadian Academy (1980)
- Order of Canada (1973)