Fonds

Clarence Alphonse Gagnon was born in Sainte Rose (Laval), on November 8, 1881. His parents were Alphonse-E. Gagnon and Sarah Ann Wilford. After attending the École du Plateau in Montreal, Gagnon studied under legendary painter William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal (1897 to 1900). His artistic training was also influenced by mentoring he received from Horatio Walker. In 1899, Gagnon won a scholarship. Even early on, his artistic creations conveyed his interest in scenes of rural life and showed off his special talent for engraving. Montreal businessman James Morgan took an interest in the young artist and funded his studies under painter Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian in Paris (1904-1905).

In 1905, Gagnon's etchings earned him an honourable mention at the Salon des artistes français in Paris. Gagnon met a number of artists in the City of Light, including fellow Canadians like painter James Wilson Morrice, with whom he struck up a friendship and shared artistic techniques.

Gagnon married Kathryne Irwin in 1907 and together they returned to Quebec. In 1908, he moved to the Baie St. Paul area, which would remain a major source of inspiration to him throughout his career. From 1909 to 1914, the artist led a nomadic life, moving between Canada, France and Norway, all while continuing to paint pictures based on sketches done in Quebec. In 1913, an exhibition of the Quebec painter's work was shown in the Montparnasse gallery of Adrien M. Reitlinger. This event, considered a turning point in Gagnon's career, made him attractive to both French and Canadian collectors. In the years that followed, Gagnon essentially painted Canadian landscapes. He was known for his rural landscapes (especially of the Laurentians), winter scenes, and depictions of French-Canadian life.

In 1919, following the death of his first wife, the artist returned to Canada and married Lucile Rodier. In 1920, he joined the legendary Beaver Hall Group, which brought a breath of modernism to Canadian art. He was named a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1922, and then the Royal Society of Canada. In 1923, he was awarded the Trevor Prize at the Salmagundi Club exhibition in New York, for his painting Winter in the Laurentians, Quebec. Gagnon lived in Paris again from 1924 to 1936, where he worked on two projects that brought him tremendous renown: the illustrations for the deluxe edition of The Great While Silence (1929) by Louis-Frédéric Rouquette, and the illustrations for Maria Chapdelaine (1933) by Louis Hémon. An exhibition of the original paintings for the latter book successfully toured Quebec and Ontario. In 1939, 21 of these illustrations were used to decorate the royal suites in Rideau Hall and the Windsor Hotel in Montreal.

Gagnon returned to live in Canada with his wife Lucile in 1936 and was given an honourary doctorate from the Université de Montréal two years later. During this period, he worked very hard to create an outdoor museum on Ile d'Orléans, a project that never materialized. He then tried to adapt the idea for Mount Royal, as part of the festivities commemorating Montreal's 300th anniversary.

Clarence A. Gagnon died January 5, 1942, at the age of 61.