Clarence Alphonse Gagnon
Overlooking the Vallée du Gouffre, Charlevoix
circa 1915
oil on panel
12 x 18 cm
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Dr. Max Stern Bequest

The Charlevoix region, which was linked by railway to the City of Québec in 1909, attracted many Francophone and Anglophone painters. It was an enclave of life relatively untouched by modernism, somewhat like Brittany, in France, which had earlier captivated Paul Gauguin and his friends. Clarence Gagnon spent much of his time working in the Charlevoix region. He not only encouraged local people to preserve the picturesqueness of their region, but tried to convince them that this would attract more tourists. His painting shows the Gouffre River delta between two snow-covered hills. The play of light in the background is striking.