Ceux de la Gatineau (1943)

André Biéler (1896-1989) brought a modernist approach to his traditional rural Québec subject matter in paintings, prints and murals.

Jour d’élections dans un champ de tabac (1942)

Biéler was an important cultural figure because his personal vision of a national arts funding organization eventually led to the creation of the Canada Council.

Born in Switzerland, he immigrated to Canada and developed a passion for the French Canadian rural way of life.

Le Rigodon (1940)

He was a prolific painter, capturing everyday life while travelling the length and breadth of Charlevoix and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. He also did wood engravings, enhanced with gouache, applied through the use of stencils.

Fair at Deseronto Reservation (1943)

Biéler moved to Kingston, Ontario in 1936 as the Queen’s University artist-in-residence, and remained a professor of art there until his retirement in 1964.

André Biéler at the National Gallery of Canada, here.

At Jean-Pierre Valentin Gallery, here.

Biography, Queen’s University, here.

This is #16 n the series 150 Artists.