File

This file chronicles some of Clarence A. Gagnon’s personal and social activities, along with his travels between Europe and Quebec. It also documents a few of his financial activities.

Among the items in the file is the passenger list from the S.S. Lake Champlain, a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) transatlantic steamer that left Saint John, New Brunswick, on January 9, 1904, headed for Liverpool, England. There is also a Declaration of Alien about to Depart for the United States form signed by the artist on May 12, 1919, along with stationery from the Nobel Hotel in Oslo featuring handwritten suggestions of places to visit. Several press clippings from 1936 announce Gagnon's return to Canada. Some of these articles report remarks that Gagnon made about the political situation in France when he and his wife arrived in Montreal on board the S.S. Montrose. There is also a chequebook from the Royal Bank of Canada in New York with notes scribbled in it. Stapled papers that look like cheque stubs, filled in by hand between April 11 and December 1, 1924, record payments for various objects, primarily related to domestic life (draperies, rugs, blankets, a cushion, shawl, table runner, etc.).

In addition, the file includes many articles clipped from newspapers like The Montreal Standard, The Montreal Star, La Patrie, L’Action catholique and Le Soleil, which chronicle the artist's public life and tremendous renown, both during his lifetime and after his death. A 1938 article reports on a short book about the artist published by Ryerson Press. Two press clippings announce the 1942 naming of a lake in the Laurentide National Park in his honour. The file also contains various typewritten texts about Gagnon. An article by William H. Ingram, dated June 1926, discusses his return to Paris after five years of living in Baie St. Paul. There is also a print copy of an article by Pierre Morin entitled "Art, Literature, and Ideals of French Canada," published in the Dalhousie Review, and "Chronique des Archives," published June 10, 1942, in Le Canada Français. Several documents chronicle radio programs devoted in whole or in part to Gagnon and his career. There is an invitation, scripts and a catalogue of programs for the CBC series School Broadcasts 1944-1945, which included an episode of "The Adventure of Canadian Painting" about Gagnon.

A form from the Arts Club of Montreal, a document fragment with the name of the Salmagundi Club, a menu from Montreal's Windsor Hotel, a voter registration certificate, an invitation, and two honourable mention cards are also preserved in the file. Finally, there are two photographs of the artist.