Clarence Gagnon

Clarence Gagnon

Clarence Gagnon, engraver, painter (b at Montréal 8 Nov 1881; d there 5 Jan 1942). After studying at the École normale du Plateau in Montréal, he received his artistic training from the painter William BRYMNER at the Art Association of Montreal 1897-1900. The generosity of art patron James Morgan allowed him to go to Paris and study in the studio of painter Jean-Paul Laurens. Gagnon distinguished himself early in his career by the quality of his engravings, and won a gold medal at the St Louis Exhibition in 1904 and an honourable mention the following year at the Salon des artistes français in Paris. Returning to Canada 1909, he divided his time between Montréal and Baie-St-Paul. He became a member of the Royal Society of Canada and later he was elected associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In 1923, he received the Trevor Prize of the Salmagundi Club of New York. He illustrated Le Grand Silence blanc (1929) and the deluxe edition of Louis Hémon's Maria Chapdelaine (1933). Upon his return from a second stay in France from 1922-36, U de Montréal awarded him an honorary doctorate.