Born in Montreal and began studying art in 1897 with William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal. He went to Paris in 1904 to study at the Académie Julian. For the following several years Gagnon traveled throughout Europe painting with the style of the Impressionists that he would later apply to his paintings of Canadian subjects. He also distinguished himself abroad as a printmaker, winning awards in the United States and France for his picturesque engravings of villages and towns. In 1909, he began to divide his time between Montreal and Charlevoix County, east of Quebec City, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. Gagnon became renowned both nationally and internationally for his paintings of the winter villages of his native land.
In 1928, Gagnon embarked on his most famous oeuvre: the 54 paintings that would illustrate the 1933 deluxe edition of Louis Hémon’s novel Maria Chapdelaine. “My purpose in illustrating Maria Chapdelaine,” he wrote, “was to catch the spirit of Canada and of the French-Canadian life.”
1n 1941 he exhibited a model of a French Canadian Village, which he had hoped to build as an outdoor museum.
Gagnon died in 1942 in Montreal.
Acclaimed as one of Canada’s most important artists, Gagnon’s paintings hang in every major collection including the National Gallery of Canada.
