René Jean Richard

Lot # 192 Ren� Jean Richard OC RCA 1895 - 1982 Canadian Territoire de trappeurs oil on board signed 40 1/4 x 47 in 102.2 x 119.4cm Provenance: Galerie Clarence Gagnon, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal Exhibited: Mus�e Marc-Aur�le Fortin, Montreal, Exposition, May 10 - September 9, 1990, catalogue #19 Ren� Richard came to Canada in 1909. His parents were in search of new opportunities, and established themselves at Cold Lake in northern Alberta in 1910, where Richard's father operated a trading post. Richard, then 15, became a trapper, and in 1923 paddled a canoe down the McKenzie River to the Arctic Ocean, trapping Arctic fox along the way. His interest in art, and his desire for another kind of life, spurred him to travel to Paris where he met Clarence Gagnon. Gagnon took Richard under his wing, encouraging him to visit museums and to explore the countryside to sketch. After exhausting his funds, Richard returned to Alberta and the mining and trapping life, but filled his backpack with art supplies, working out-of-doors whenever he could. He moved to Quebec in 1940 at the suggestion of Gagnon. Territoire de trappeurs has a lively, windswept and wintery atmosphere. Richard keenly understood the hard work involved in trapping, and thus his depiction of this lone trapper's encampment has a unique authenticity.

Lot # 178 René Jean Richard OC RCA 1895 - 1982 Canadian Le vieux prospecteur oil on board signed and on verso signed, titled and dated 1969 40 1/2 x 47 in 102.9 x 119.4cm Provenance: Private Collection, Montreal René Richard's familiarity with outdoor subjects such as this came directly from experience. After emigrating from Switzerland to Montreal, his family established a trading post at Cold Lake in Alberta. Richard's mother was from a family of artists, and his father had been an engraver, so he was surrounded by artistic influences. Forays into the surrounding wilderness were part of his early life, and by 1923 he had traveled by canoe down the MacKenzie River to join hunting expeditions with the Inuit and other First Nations peoples. While in the North, he began to sketch using birch bark and burnt twigs. This inspired him to travel to France in 1927 for training and, while in Paris, he was mentored by Clarence Gagnon. In 1930 he returned to Cold Lake, and his experiences as a hunter, trapper and voyageur formed the basis for his artwork. By 1940 he had settled at Baie-Saint-Paul and explored the Quebec countryside. Le vieux prospecteur, with its sweeping, fluid brushwork, bright, fresh colouration and intimate portrayal of a prospector's camp, is a particularly vivid painting by Richard.

LOT 48 RENÉ JEAN RICHARD 1895 - 1982 SCÈNE DES LAURENTIDES signed lower right R. Richard; titled on a label on thereverse oil on board 7,000—9,000 CAD measurements 61.0 by 71.1 cm. 24 by 28 in. Description signed lower right R. Richard; titled on a label on thereverse oil on board PROVENANCE Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal Collection of Abitibi Bowater

Lot # 122 René Jean Richard OC RCA 1895 - 1982 Canadian Paysage montagneux oil on board signed and on verso dated 1960 - 1961 16 x 20 in 40.6 x 50.8cm Provenance: Private Collection, Quebec Estimate: $4,000 ~ $6,000 CAD Preview at: Heffel Gallery Montreal

Lot # 363 René Jean Richard OC RCA 1895 - 1982 Canadian Paysage oil on board signed and on verso initialed and dated 21 décembre 1963 16 x 20 in 40.6 x 50.8cm Provenance: Private Collection, Quebec Estimate: $4,000 ~ $6,000 CAD Preview at: Heffel Gallery Montreal