The Chair by Gerald Trottier

Gerald Trottier’s diverse creative interests and influences result in a rare, accomplished hybrid of painter, drawer, muralist, sculptor, illustrator and liturgical artist whose oeuvre ranges widely: watercolours, oil painting, acrylic, pen and ink, crayon, charcoal, pastel, lithograph, linograph, mosaic, stained glass, sculpture and design of six Canadian postage stamps. Trottier’s work is noteworthy for his strong, powerful drawings, unflinching self-portraits, colourful and spectacular compositions, lush landscapes and superb draughtsmanship.

Gerald Trottier was chosen to represent Canada in five international exhibitions and competitions: Toronto International Art Fair in 2010, Biennial of Medalists in Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1970, the 8th Sao Paulo Biennial in 1963, the 5th Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Paintings, London England in 1963, the 1st International Biennale of Modern Christian Art, Salzburg, Austria in 1958 and the Primera Bienal Interamericana de Pintura y Grabado in Mexico City in 1958. 

In addition, Trottier had eighteen solo exhibitions and was in fifty-three group exhibitions, with many of Canada's foremost artists including Bellefleur, Borduas, Colville, Lemieux, Riopelle, Shadbolt, Snow, Tousignant, Bates, Bush, Chambers, Cosgrove, Curnoe, Dallaire, Goodwin, Hurtubise, Jackson, Jarvis, Kiyooka, Lismer, Lochhead, Masson, Morrisseau, Mousseau, Nakamura, Plaskett, Onley, Pellan, Roberts, Ronald, Shadbolt, Schaeffer, Tanabe and Town, amongst others. His work is in numerous public and private galleries including the National Gallery of Canada where he has eight works and the Ottawa Art Gallery with the largest collection of 100 of his works. Trottier was responsible for six Canadian postage stamps produced for the Post Office Department between 1958 and 1965, as well as cover pages for Canadian Art magazine and numerous public murals. Trottier won various prizes and awards for his exceptional artistic talents.

His artistic education began at high school in Ottawa and continued with studies under the war artist, Ernest Fosberry. A member of the navy, he received a bursary from the Department of Veterans Affairs of Canada in 1948-1949 to enrol in the Art Students League of New York. There he studied classical anatomical drawing with American artists Bernard Klonis, McPherson and Buehr.

In the ealy 50s, he had studios with Jean Dallaire and in 1958 and 1959, he took special lessons in postal art, notably in Switzerland and at Joh. Enschedé in the Netherlands. Working with fellow artists Victor Tolgyesy, Frank Penn and Theo Lubbers, they founded the Guild Studio in 1955 in Ottawa.

Trottier taught at the Ottawa Municipal Art Centre and the Bon Echo Centre in Ontario. Gerald Trottier also held the post of Director of the Design department at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Ottawa and latterly in Vancouver for many years.

He was artist in residence at the University of Western Ontario in London in 1965 and he was a founding member of the 20/20 Gallery, a model non-profit artists' centre of the time with fellow artists Jack Chambers, Greg Curnoe, and Murray Favro.

In 1967, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada awarded Trottier the Allied Arts Medal for his collaborative work with architects on religious architecture as well as secular projects such as the mosaic murals at Carleton (1962), Queen’s Park mural in Toronto in 1968 and the main Ottawa Public Library in 1973 along with Ottawa Mitel cafeteria mural in 1984.

From 1980 until 2002 he created his two major bodies of work — the Easter Series, where he portrays life as a pilgrimage – a reflection on the “carnival of life repeating itself in all ages and for all times” and a large number of imposing self-portraits, many done with a pointillism technique. Trottier died on July 1, 2004 in Ottawa (Ontario).  More information on the artist can be found on Instagram #geraldtrottier, his website www.geraldtrottier.ca and Facebook Gerald Trottier (GT).

-Biography provided by the family of the artist