Clarence Alphonse Gagnon
(1881 - 1942) RCA
Previously Sold Works
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Ice Harvest, Quebec, 1935
oil on canvas
signed lower right; Lucile Rodier Gagnon Inventory no. 190
25 x 36 ins ( 63.5 x 91.4 cms )
Auction Estimate: $400,000.00 - $600,000.00
Price Realized $984,000.00
Sale date: December 6th 2023
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Ferme au dégel (Charlevoix)
oil on board
signed, titled, dated 1923 and certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 265) on a label on the reverse
4.5 x 7 ins ( 11.4 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $23,600.00
Sale date: May 29th 2018
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
La Mare, Baie St. Paul, 1920
oil on panel
certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no.358) on a label on the reverse
4.75 x 7 ins ( 12.1 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $23,600.00
Sale date: November 19th 2019
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Au Crépuscule, Baie St. Paul
oil on board
signed, titled, dated “vers 1924” and certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 617) on a label on the reverse
4.75 x 7 ins ( 12.1 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $10,000.00 - $12,000.00
Price Realized $14,950.00
Sale date: November 23rd 2017
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Couleurs au coucher de soleil, Charlevoix, 1923
oil on panel
titled, dated 1923 and certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 147) on the reverse
6.25 x 9.25 in ( 15.9 x 23.5 cm )
Auction Estimate: $7,000.00 - $9,000.00
Price Realized $14,400.00
Sale date: November 27th 2024
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Baie St. Paul
oil on panel
certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 340) and dated “vers 1924” on a label on the reverse
4.75 x 7 ins ( 12.1 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $12,000.00 - $15,000.00
Price Realized $10,620.00
Sale date: November 20th 2018
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Dover Mountains, Norway
oil on board
certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 525) on a label the reverse
4.75 x 7 ins ( 12.1 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $8,000.00 - $12,000.00
Price Realized $8,625.00
Sale date: May 25th 2017
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
The Doctor
drawing and gouache
signed, titled “Etude pour Maria Chapdelaine”, inscribed “page 170” and certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 794) on a label on the reverse
7.25 x 8.75 ins ( 18.4 x 22.2 cms ) ( sight )
Auction Estimate: $8,000.00 - $12,000.00
Price Realized $8,260.00
Sale date: May 29th 2018
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Swiss Village
oil on panel
4.75 x 7 ins ( 12.1 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $9,000.00 - $12,000.00
Price Realized $6,726.00
Sale date: November 19th 2019
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
The Yellow Dress
oil on board
signed and dated 1906 lower left; titled on a label on the reverse
10.5 x 7.25 ins ( 26.7 x 18.4 cms )
Auction Estimate: $7,000.00 - $9,000.00
Price Realized $7,080.00
Sale date: September 24th 2020
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Tour de l’Horloge, Dinan
etching
signed and dated 1907 in the lower margin
8.75 x 5.75 ins ( 22.2 x 14.6 cms ) ( subject )
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Maria Chapdelaine (by Louis Hemon)
book
Louis Hemon, “Maria Chapdelaine” (with illustrations by Clarence Gagnon), Paris, 1933, leather bound volume, numbered 1405 of 1900
10 x 8.5 x 1.5 ins ( 25.4 x 21.6 x 3.8 cms )
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Le Grand Silence Blanc
book
L.-F. Rouquette (author), Clarence Gagnon (illustrator), Editions Mornay, Paris, France, 1928; numbered illustrations by Clarence Gagnon, no. 449/ 650
x ins ( 0 x 0 cms )
CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON
Village, St. Lawrence, North Shore
crayon drawing
the atelier stamp lower right
5.5 x 7.75 ins ( 14 x 19.7 cms ) ( sight )
Consignments
We are currently seeking works by Clarence Gagnon to be included in future consignment sales.
If you are interested in selling works by Clarence Alphonse Gagnon or want to get our opinion of value click here for more information or submit your artwork for sale.
Clarence Gagnon Biography
(1881 - 1942) RCA
Clarence Gagnon was born in Montreal, Quebec, his father of French origin and his mother of English. The Gagnon family moved to St. Rose where they lived for ten years, then returned to Montreal where Clarence received a commercial education at the Ecole du Plateau and artistic training at the Art Association of Montreal under William Brymner from 1897-1900. In the summer of 1899 he spent some time in Lower Quebec where he did paintings that won him prize money from the Art Association of Montreal. After two years at the Association he worked for William Maxwell, R.C.A., prominent architect and spent his summers at St. Joachim. At Maxwell’s home in 1902, Gagnon made his first drypoint etching no bigger than a visting card. Gagnon probably studied the engravings of Rembrandt as he once told Robert Pilot about the time he and another artist secured the loan of six small etched copper plates by the Dutch master with which they made several copies of each.
In 1903, 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 Francais in Paris. Two of his etchings were reproduced in Paul Duval’s book “Canadian Drawings and Prints”. Many of these etchings were of scenes in Venice, Normandy and Brittany.
Returning to Canada in 1909, he divided his time between Montreal and Baie-St-Paul. There in Charlevoix County, he painted scenes of habitant life and was soon a familiar figure in the community. He had a genuine love of the country and could detect the slightest change in some areas where he spent many hours. He became a member of the Royal Society of Canada and later he was elected associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
He felt compelled to return to France in 1917 and, while in Paris, continued to paint canvases based on his earlier sketches of Quebec villages. His occasional winter visits to Norway refreshed his memories of snow and the northern atmosphere. He returned to Canada to marry two years later, remaining until 1924. During this period, he sketched with A.Y. Jackson and Edwin Holgate at Baie Ste Paul. 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 Hemon's “Maria Chapdelaine” (1933). Upon his return from a second stay in France from 1922-36, the University de Montreal awarded him an honorary doctorate.
He died in Montreal at the age of 61. A memorial exhibition of his work was organized by the National Gallery of Canada which included paintings from the permanent collections of the National Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Sources: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977
