Rodolphe Duguay

Rodolphe Duguay (April 27, 1891 August25, 1973) He created wood engraved prints and paintings of rural Quebec. In 2024, there was a retrospective of his work titled Rodolphe Duguay: True Nature at the Joliette Art Museum which brought attention to his work. The curator of the exhibition, Julie Alary Lavallée, said of Duguay's art career, "In today’s era of climate change, the emphasis on nature, simplicity, and daily life far from the city takes on new meaning."

The Rodolphe Duguay collection is held at the National Archives in Trois-Rivières.

The artist's home and studio, the Maison et atelier Rodolphe-Duguay, can be toured in Nicolet, Quebec.

Career Duguay was born in Nicolet, Quebec. He initially studied at the Séminaire of Nicolet, but interested in art, in 1908 he left his father's farm and moved to Montreal. By 1911, he had enrolled as an art student at the Council of Arts and Manufactures in Montreal, where he studied with several prominent artists, including Charles Gill, Joseph Franchère, and Alfred Laliberté. He also studied with William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal (1915-1916) and Maurice Cullen and worked in the studio of Georges Delfosse.

Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté became his mentor and facilitated Duguay's further studies. With Suzor-Coté's support and the first Quebec Government Grant made to an artist, Duguay travelled to France in 1920. In Paris, Duguay studied at the Académie Julian with Jean Paul Laurens, the Académie Colarossi, and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

In 1937, at the invitation of Horatio Walker Duguay exhibited at the Montmorency et frères gallery. He later exhibited his work in Montreal and Trois-Rivières.

In 1973, he received the Order of Canada and died the same year. the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and the Joliette Art Museum. After his death, two series of his woodcuts were published, the Carnets intimes (1978).