ROGER RICARD

Born in Shawinigan in 1940, Roger Ricard began his career as a painter of landscapes in the early 1970s. At first, interested mainly in working with gouache and watercolour, he soon devoted increasing attention to painting in oils, which became his preferred medium. Self-taught, Roger loves to use his brush to enhance the texture of the canvas and to develop scenes that linger halfway between dream and reality. An artist like Roger Ricard never fails to explore and master the surface of his canvas before making the first brushstroke. The colour alone will confirm his conquest. The design and the composition are born at the same time and develop together, giving the scene a freer effect with no room for artifice. The artist often resorts to a slightly asymmetrical perspective to achieve the most natural depiction of the elements. The colours, applied in large strokes, schematize more than they describe. In Roger Ricard, one senses the underlying presence of Marc-Aurèle Fortin in the perception of the landscape. In addition to canvas, this painter has turned his hand to the execution of several murals.

​

The paintings of Roger Ricard may be found in many fine galleries throughout Canada: in St-Saveur, Québec, and Baie St-Paul, but also in Vancouver, Toronto, and others. In May 2010, Roger Ricard represented Québec at the Symposium held in the town of Racour in Belgium. Then, throughout June 2010, he was in Dinan, Brittany, as the guest artist at the Maison de la Grande Vigne, in the atelier of artist Yvonne Jean Haffen, who died in 1993. This was a research workshop offered to a succession of artists from all over the world year-round. In October 2011, Roger Ricard was invited to La Maison d’Emma in Provence (France); his stay there concluded with a vernissage. June 2013 brought another vernissage, at La Mauricie National Park, The exhibition of his paintings continued until October 2013.