signed, titled, dated 1923 and certified by Lucile Rodier Gagnon (no. 265) on a label on the reverse
4.5 × 7 in (11.4 × 17.8 cm)
Auction Estimate:$20,000 - $30,000
Sale date:May 29, 2018
Price Realized
$23,600
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Private Collection, Calgary
Literature
Hélène Sicotte and Michèle Grandbois, Clarence Gagnon, 1881-1942: Dreaming the Landscape, Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec, Quebec City, 2006, page 136
Following the First World War, Gagnon moved to Baie St. Paul with his second wife, Lucile Rodier, in 1919. Marking a short but prolific period for the artist, the rural region offered the artist infinite seasonal landscapes to capture. From 1919 to 1924, before moving to France, Gagnon took advantage of the newly accessible area, thanks in part to the newly constructed rail line connecting Montreal and Quebec City to Baie St. Paul, and produced numerous sketches, paintings and print works of the area. During this time, A.Y. Jackson, Albert Henry Robinson, Edwin Holgate, Mabel May and Lilias Torrance joined him at various times to join in sketching trips across the region. Gagnon experimented with a variety of paints and techniques while in the Charlevoix region, as he was dissatisfied with the quality of materials after the war and often hand-ground custom pigments. “Ferme au dégel” (1923) exemplifies this experimentation of technique with the ethereal smoothness of the palette, the melting of the snow on a bright sunny day rendered beautifully in soft tones.
