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Death of René Gagnon, the painter of the North

Quebec lost one of its greatest artists this weekend. René Gagnon, “the painter of the North”, died Saturday at the age of 93 in his residence perched in the heights of the Saguenay fjord.

With spatulas, René Gagnon painted for 70 years the black spruce trees, the small round mountains of the Laurentian range and the wide open spaces that characterize Quebec.

“René, it’s Quebec. René’s paintings represent deep Quebec, illustrates the spouse of the deceased, Claire-Hélène Hovington. It is the forest of Quebec, the landscapes of Quebec, the lakes of Quebec, the spruces, the pines, the trees. »

Hundreds of works by René Gagnon can be found in collectors’ galleries in China, England, Australia and English Canada. “Really everywhere”, says the director of the René Gagnon Art Gallery, Marc Durand.

Yet it was in the secrecy of the boreal forest that the inspiration came to him most intensely, says his wife. “Me, I went hunting, and René painted in the hunting camp. Because René is not a hunter, he is an image hunter. »

His technique of painting with a spatula, “with a knife” as we say in France, makes him a real artist apart. “René Gagnon’s art is an art of pressure. Trying to copy René Gagnon is not easy,” assures Mr. Durand.

The use of lead paints in his canvases undermined his health. “For his water bodies, he stretched the paint with his fingers. There was an accumulation of lead particles in his skin and blood, he explains. […] Without going into details, he died of cancer. »

Independent

René Gagnon has always been attached to his independence. Self-taught, he was first introduced to art by his uncle, a Jesuit art dealer. Through this intermediary, he met the greats of the time, of the caliber of Marc-Aurèle Fortin. “When René started painting, that uncle started telling him what to do. René never accepted,” says Marc Durand.

Putting himself at odds with the clergy then excluded him from prestigious circles and “art cliques”. Regardless, René Gagnon prospered all the same. “In the early 1950s, he would come to Montreal and sleep on park benches. A little later, he was taking phone books and calling doctors and lawyers to try to get his things off the ground, ”adds Mr. Durand.

Always close to the Quebec territory, he will know how to sniff out the bargain and will ultimately earn a very good living. Thus, at the end of the 1960s, he went to the Manic-5 site to sell a few paintings to the engineers on site.

When his name begins to circulate, he once again opts for independence to assert himself. His modus operandi consisted of leaving his beloved Saguenay for a few days to go to Montreal. He rented a hotel room there, then hung his paintings there. Then, he went to restaurants or clubs where he found acquaintances, brought these people back to his hotel and sold his paintings directly, without any intermediary.

His independence is not only reflected in his works. He built his own home from his territory, says his wife. “Our house was built with wood from our land. We had a small portable sawmill. All the stone work, the hearths and everything, it was all done with stone from the mountains. He was a craftsman, a special being. »

The hoarse voice, Mme Hovington notes that he built his own small personal museum near his house. “He built his pavilion there, with all his paintings. We would go there for a drink in the evening. René said: “I painted that. I may be a great painter after all.” »

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