Richard
René RCA
1895 - 1982
René Richard, a well-known Canadian artist-painter was born in Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Dec. 1, 1895. His family established themselves in Baie Saint-Paul, Quebec on 31 March 1982.
His family first emigrated to Canada and settled in Alberta, at Cold Lake.
He was first a trapper in order to raise money for the realization of his dream of becoming a painter.
In January 1927, he left for Paris, where he studied at the Grande Chaumiere and became the protégé of Clarence Gagnon, also a well-established Canadian artist. He continued his training at l’Académie Colarossi and he returned to Canada in 1930. In 1938, he was a gamekeeper in Gaspésie. On the recommendation of his friend Clarence Gagnon, he stayed several times in Baie St. Paul, where he settled in 1942 after marrying Blanche Cimon.
The Museum of Quebec has organized two major retrospectives of his work (in 1967 and in 1978). After his death, Laval University and the city of Montreal paid homage to the artist by organizing two exhibitions of his works (1982 and 1986). In 1978, Robert Baumgartner published the first major book on René Richard with the publishing house les Éditions de la Frégate.
In 1982, René Richard Foundation was created to help promising young artists.
Jean-Guy Quenneville published another book on his life in 1985: “Le voyage d’un solitaire” tracing the life of Richard in the North. Les Éditions de la Fondation also published a book about the artist: “René Richard, 1895-1982” and Les Éditions Art Global edited, in 1990, the autobiography “René Richard, ma vie passée”.
The Exhibition Centre of Baie St. Paul organized a major retrospective from 9 October 1993 to 30 January 1994.
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