Sold for: $49,250

PROVENANCE
Estate of the Artist
Collection of Tom Edwards, Montreal
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
René Boissay, Clarence Gagnon, 1988, reproduced page 76
A.K. Prakash, Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Rediscovery, 2015, page 558

La gare, Paris was produced at the end of Clarence Gagnon’s first sojourn in Paris, which took place from 1904 to 1908. James H. Morgan, a wealthy patron of the arts who ran a gallery in the large Montreal department store owned by his family, Henry Morgan & Company, funded this trip – paying for Gagnon’s travel expenses and giving him a monthly stipend for living expenses. Paris was a mecca for artists at the time, and Canadians and Americans formed the largest group of foreign students. Impressionism was revolutionizing the art world, and these students were also exposed to Pointillism, Post-Impressionism and the Fauves.

Gagnon joined the group of French-Canadian artists in Paris, which included artists such as Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Coté. He first resided in the Montparnasse neighbourhood in various locations, and by 1907 he was living at 9 rue Falguière, in one of the large studios made available at low rent to accomplished artists by the French government. It became his permanent Paris address, and he alternated between spells in Canada and sojourns in the French capital until his permanent return to Quebec in 1936. Gagnon would spend half of his artistic life in France.

During this first sojourn, Gagnon briefly studied at the Académie Julian, learned etching techniques from printmaker Donald Shaw MacLaughlan and traveled in Europe. He also explored France extensively on sketching trips. During 1905, 1906 and 1908, he showed with the Salon de la Société des artistes français – it was an effective way to establish his reputation in Paris. Between 1905 and 1908, he also contributed works to the prestigious Salon des Champs-Élysées. He quickly gained recognition for his etchings, which were acquired in The Hague, Dresden, Florence and Venice. Significantly, he became friendly with Canadian Impressionist James Wilson Morrice, who was also living in Paris, and who briefly shared Gagnon’s 9 rue Falguière studio. Gagnon strolled around Paris with Morrice, who, A.K. Prakash wrote, “taught Gagnon to make quick sketches on the spot, capturing the essence of the scene on the small wooden panels he favoured…Gagnon regarded Morrice as a soulmate, and they remained friends to the end of the older artist’s life.” Gagnon, in a 1938 lecture at the Art Association of Montreal, praised Morrice’s “poetic conceptions…..exquisite colour and delicacy of feeling,” words which could easily be used to describe this gorgeous pochade.

The influence of Morrice’s Impressionist style is seen quite clearly in La gare, Paris, in Gagnon’s choice of subject and the soft brush-strokes that convey the essentials of the scene. The subject of the train station and leisure travel was an interesting and modern choice for this composition. Here, Gagnon depicts small clusters of well-dressed people in the train station with a large, smoking locomotive looming behind them. Beyond the station, Gagnon captures the radiant atmosphere of the deepening blue twilight over the city, with a single star shining in the sky and orbs of light glowing in the city beyond. Gagnon’s dark and light contrasts are acute – the light colours of the women’s dresses and the pale plume rising from the smokestack against the dark locomotive are dramatic. Vivid splashes of orange and gold on the clothing and lamps enliven the scene. Gagnon’s brushwork is sensitive, capturing this atmospheric urban locale on the spot in sure, fluid strokes of paint. In La gare, Paris, Gagnon has created an evocative and luminous composition that reflects his mastery of the tenets of Impressionism.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars