Clarence Gagnon received his artistic training at the Art Association of Montreal under William Brymner from 1897-1900. From the beginning of his training, Gagnon was drawn towards landscape painting, in particular the landscape of the Laurentians and the Charlevoix region of eastern Quebec.

Gagnon’s early paintings of rural Quebec gained the attention of art patron James Morgan. Morgan’s patronage enabled Gagnon to travel to Europe and study in Paris in 1903. While in Paris, Gagnon met follow Canadian painter James Wilson Morrice; Gagnon adopted Morrice’s method of painting quickly on the spot.

Gagnon returned to Canada in 1908 and settled in the Baie Saint Paul region of Charlevoix. His affection of the region is apparent in his depictions of the area.

From 1909 till 1914 Gagnon moved between Canada and Europe, while continuing to work on his paintings of rural Quebec. Unlike his other Canadian art colleagues who travelled abroad for brief periods of study, Gagnon spent almost half of his artistic career working in France.

An integral turning point in Gagnon’s career was when when Parisian art dealer Adrien M. Reitlinger offered him an exhibition in his Montparnasse gallery. Gagnon is one of the few Canadian artists to have held a solo exhibition in Paris prior to World War I. Even more notable is that most of the exhibition consisted of Gagnon’s landscapes of the Laurentians.

Following the 1913 exhibition Gagnon almost exclusively portrayed the Canadian landscape. Gagnon created a new type of winter landscape with juxtapositions of light and shadow, elements of geography, colour and line. From 1916 onward his palette consisted of pure white, reds, blues and yellows. In 1936 Gagnon left Paris and returned to Canada for the last time, passing away in 1942 at the age of 61.