Art canadien classique
Isola San Burano, Venice, 1905
15.2 x 21.6 cm
Inscriptions
titled, ‘Isola San Burano, Venice’ (lower left); signed, ‘Clarence A. Gagnon’ (lower right)Provenance
Private collection, Toronto
Expositions
Paris, American Art Association of Paris, 17, rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Exhibition of Etchings by Georges C. Aid, Clarence Gagnon, Herman A. Webster, H.M. Luquiens, January 4-17, 1906, no. 12.
Paris, Salon de la Société des artistes français, May-June 1906.
Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, Third Exhibition of Works in Black and White, January 24-February 9, 1907, no.109.
Montreal, Galleries of Henry Morgan and Company, Paintings, Etchings, Japanese Prints, China, Etc., May 15-30, 1907, no.11.
Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, Summer Exhibition of Canadian Art, June 14-30, 1909, no.46m.
Toronto, Art Museum of Toronto, Fifth Loan Exhibition: Catalogue of Pen and Ink, Pencil and Wash Drawings and of Etchings and Engravings on Wood, Copper and Steel, April 11 - May 12, 1912, no.268.
Winnipeg, Winnipeg Museum of Fine Art, RCA Exhibition of Paintings, December 16, 1912 - January 4, 1913, no. 177.
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Prints and Drawings, January 16 -June 30, 1926.
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Etchings and Monotypes by Clarence A. Gagnon, R.C.A., November 20 - December 15, 1937.
Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, Etchings by Clarence Gagnon, February 1939.
Quebec City, Musée de la province de Québec, Exposition rétrospective de Clarence Gagnon, R.C.A., 1881-1942, June 16 - July 16, 1942, no.124; Montreal, The Art Association of Montreal, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings, Sketches, Etchings, etc. by Clarence Gagnon, R.C.A., August 7 - September 30, 1942, no.168; Toronto, Art Gallery of Toronto, Memorial Exhibition of the Work of Clarence Gagnon R.C.A. and J. W. Beatty, R.C.A., O.S.A., October - November 1942, no. P593; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Memorial Exhibition of the Work of Clarence Gagnon 1881-1942, November 1942 - January 1943, no. 166.
Montreal, Centre d’art du Mont-Royal, Gravures de Clarence A. Gagnon (période 1902-1910), October 7 - November 7, 1965.
Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Clarence Gagnon, R.C.A., L.L.D., 1881-1942, January 7 - February 6, 1966, no. 59.
Victoria, British Columbia, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, The Prints of Clarence Gagnon, July 10 -September 8, 1981, no. 20.
Joliette, Musée d’art de Joliette, Gravures de Clarence Gagnon. Collection de Madeleine Boyer, September 26 - November 14, 1982, no. 7.
Montreal, Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Prints by Clarence, September 14 - October 28, 1984.
Baie-Saint-Paul, Centre d’exposition de Baie-Saint-Paul, Clarence Gagnon 1881-1942, September 18, 1992 - January 15, 1993.
Montreal, Galerie Walter Klinkhoff / Jan Johnson, Old Master and Modern Prints, Inc., The Etchings of Clarence Gagnon, May 9-21, 2005.
Documentation
Ian Thom, The Prints of Clarence Gagnon (exhibition catalogue) (Victoria, British Columbia: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1981), 4, 20 [illustrated].
Carolyn W. MacHardy, “Clarence Gagnon’s European Etchings, 1905-1909.” RACAR - Revue d’art canadienne / Canadian Art Review , 11, no. 1-2 , 1984, 118.
Hélène Sicotte et al., Clarence Gagnon, 1881-1942 : Dreaming the Landscape (Québec: Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, 2006), cat. 13., 252 [illustrated].
The work’s composition has an accent of the “land of the rising sun” with the motif of the tree spreading its branches decoratively over two-thirds of the surface and the far-off city blending into the light of the sky [...] The motif of the tree occurs in Isola San Burano, Venice, providing an opportunity to explore the density of lines in the dark mass, bending in the breeze that sends the sailboats gliding through the water. The goatherd and her flock personify the rural aspect of the island northeast of Venice, renowned for its lace and little fishing community, [1]
A version of this etching Isola San Burano (dated 1906) is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, (purchased in 1909), the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
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Footnote:
[1] Hélène Sicotte et al., Clarence Gagnon, 1881-1942 : Dreaming the Landscape (Québec: Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, 2006), cat. 13., 251.
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“ He [Clarence Gagnon] is quite simply the best of the early Canadian painter-etchers, recognized immediately as an exceptional talent on his works' first being exhibited in Paris and at home” the distinguished print dealer Jan Johnson wrote as an introduction in 2010 when our family sold The Madeleine Boyer Collection of Clarence A Gagnon etchings.
Jan continued, “Other (most slightly later) Canadian etchers trying to gain a foothold in Europe must have envied the apparently effortless way he attracted favourable publicity, solicitous dealers, and grateful collectors. His recognition as a printmaker preceded any fame as a painter”
“The development of the artist as a printmaker did not require a lifetime, but was rather a bright flare of natural ability that ran its course largely between 1904 and 1910, with one brilliant return to the medium in 1917 [...] In this short time, however, he achieved astonishing mastery of different etching techniques and matured in his ability to use the medium to expressive effect. His gift for draughtsmanship translated readily into an etched line more supple and suggestive than that of many a more experienced printmaker...”
“Gagnon does not appear to have made editions in an orderly fashion, but rather responded to market demand for an image, and spread his printing over many years. However, the fact that he painstakingly printed them himself, while conducting a painting career, and that he was of modest means at that stage, meant that their numbers were never high.” [1]
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Footnote:
[1] Jan Johnson, "The Madeleine Boyer Collection of Clarence Gagnon Etchings," Galerie Alan Klinkhoff, January 20, 2011, https://www.klinkhoff.ca/blog/category/1/1548/.
