Portrait of a Young Girl, circa 1905

Collection of Madame Clarence Gagnon, Westmount 
Mr. and Mrs. Raich, Montreal 
Collection of Gilles Corbeil, Montreal 
Private Collection, Ottawa

Deux cents ans de peinture québécoise, école française d'été, McGill University, Montreal, 30-31 July 1969, no. 26 as Portrait de Mme Clarence Gagnon

Portrait of a Young Girl is a rare example of renowned landscapist Clarence Gagnon’s mastery of the figure. Gagnon achieved much acclaim for his idyllic landscapes; however, the portraits created by the artist reveal a sensitivity towards the personality of his model and capture an emotional presence of the figure that animates his sitter. 
 

The title, “Portrait of Madame Clarence Gagnon” appears to have been assigned to this painting when it was exhibited in Deux cents ans de peinture québécoise (Two Hundred Years of Quebec Painting) in 1969. An earlier title, Portrait of a Young Girl, was recorded by Walter Klinkhoff in 1967 in a document of authenticity, which also records the painting as no. 17 in Mrs. Gagnon's catalogue. Klinkhoff further dates the painting to 1905, which raises the possibility that the sitter may not be Gagnon’s wife as it precedes his first marriage to Katherine (Kathryne) Irwin in 1907, or his second marriage to Lucile Rodier in 1919. With no definitive inscription, the present title is retained here for consistency. 
 

For Gagnon, who began his formal arts career at the Art Association of Montreal in 1899, mastery of the figure was foundational to the instruction of many art schools at the turn of the century. Under the tutelage of William Brymner, a leading educator of the French academic method, students progressed through the curriculum by first learning to draw from plaster casts, then on to live models, and finally into the outdoors. This emphasis on figural training taught students both technical and attention to proportion and composition. For Gagnon, this equipped the young artist with a sensitivity and rigour that underscored his atmospheric landscapes of eastern Quebec. Gagnon further refined his skills at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1904 under the guidance of Jean-Paul Laurens. 
 

In this painting, the figure holds a rich blue parasol against a deep red background. On a likely windy day, her hat is tied by a ribbon and her blonde or brunette hair carefully frames her face. The suggested movement of the scene is emphasized by Gagnon in the rendering of the figure's hand and long white scarf. Gagnon has loosely painted the hand and almost allowed the two to combine, capturing the dynamism of the fleeting effect of a wind-swept moment. Such spontaneity, paired with careful attention to colour and composition, reflects Gagnon’s capability as a portrait artist. From atmospheric landscapes to dynamic portraits, Gagnon’s artistic range speaks to the strength of his academic training and his ability to capture both presence, mood, and technical skill in both figures and places.