Hugh John Barrett was born on May 2nd in Montreal and died on January 29th in Longueuil.
He was a Quebec-Canadian painter, sculptor, graphic designer, and illustrator.
In 1950, he began his career as an apprentice mechanic at Canadair. Fate would have other plans. In the summer of 1951, young Hugh accompanied his brother Donald, a painter, who was sharing a house with Goodridge Roberts in the Laurentians.
The turning point came, and in 1951, at the age of sixteen, he enrolled at the École du meuble de Montréal. From 1951 to 1954, he studied successively at the École du Musée des beaux-arts and the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, then at The Montréal School of Art and Design with Arthur Lismer and Goodridge Roberts.
From 1955 to 1956, he lived in Poste-de-la-Baleine, New Quebec, now Nunavik.
During the summers, he hitchhiked along the North Shore and the Gaspé Peninsula.
In 1958 he married and moved back to the Montreal area. After studying engraving with Janine Leroux-Guillaume, he also attended evening classes in observational drawing at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and graduated in 1960 with a teaching certificate in pedagogy and artistic methodology from the École des beaux-arts de Montréal.
After painting and teaching in the Montreal area, he settled in Saguenay. He taught at the Quebec School of Fine Arts in the Arvida drawing section and in various school boards in the region. At the same time, he participated in the creations of several socio-cultural movements. In 1963-64, he organized visual arts classes in Chicoutimi and Arvida. He also founded a free workshop and an expression workshop for children.
In 1966, he returned to Montreal to teach. He established a creative workshop at the Laurentides Hospital. He was responsible for visual arts classes at Jean de Brébeuf College in Montreal.
In 1967, he participated as an illustrator of poems and short stories in the English-language literary magazine “Parallel.” He collaborated on the creation of a model representing the entire international exhibition grounds in Montreal.
From 1968 to 1970, Barrett was a teaching advisor for the McGill Art Society’s free visual arts workshop. He taught painting technique courses at the Cégep du vieux Montréal.
1971-72: He taught at the cultural center and the Cégep in Jonquière, and he was a painting professor at the Triangle artistique in Chicoutimi.
In 1971-72, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts acquired Barrett’s graphic works.
From 1974 onwards, Barrett travelled extensively between Grande-Vallée in the Gaspé where he lived and his studio in Granby in the Eastern Townships.
He decided to devote himself solely to his artistic career.
1977: He also illustrated a collection of poems, “À l’encre blanche,” (In white ink) for Gilles Vigneault, and in 1979, a children’s story, “Les quatre saisons de Piquot.” (The four seasons of Piquot)
He also created a series of “Land Art” works on Anticosti Island.
He held several solo exhibitions
1957-58 – Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal
1959-60 – The Montreal Repertory Theater
1960 – Arts Committee – Alma City Hall
1961- Galerie La Grenouille, Chicoutimi
1962 – Canadian Art Gallery, Chicoutimi
1963 – Arvida City Hall
1963 – Jonquière Art Centre
1965 – Jonquière Classical College
1966 – Waddington Gallery, Montreal
1968 – Canadian Painters Gallery, Montreal
1975 – Cultural Centre, Vaudreuil
1975 – Mont-Royal Art Center
1975 – Exhibition in his studio in Granby
1976 – Aquarelle Gallery, Chicoutimi
1976 – Pauline Johnson Gallery, Montreal
1977 – Musée des beaux-arts du Québec, at the gallery of the museum of Quebec City
1977 – Galerie Charles Huot, Quebec City
1977 – Galerie de Beaune, Paris, France
1979 – Gaspé Museum, Gaspé
1980 – Galerie La Murée, Montreal
1984 –85 Galerie Bernard Desrocher, Hugh John Barrett’s Garden in Montreal
1987 – Galerie Bernard Desrocher, Montreal
1996 – National Arts Centre, Jonquière
Group Exhibitions
1959 – Groupe la relève, Montreal
1959 – Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal
1959-60-61 – Salon du printemps, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1961 – Salon du printemps – Musée provincial du Québec
1964 – Percé Art Centre, Percé
1967 – Retrospective at the Jonquière Art Centre
1975 – Waddington Gallery, Montreal
1970-71-72-73-74-75 – Canadian Art Gallery, Chicoutimi
1982 – Exhibition of Marie-José Beaudoin and Hugh John Barrett: Painters Inspired by Acadia, Artists Between Two Waters – La Rochelle, France – Museum of Fine Arts
1987-88 – Galerie Christin, Quebec City
1989 – Galerie Christin, Toronto
Public Collections
Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec
City of Alma, Quebec
Arvida School Board, Quebec
Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, France
Museum of Modern Art of Paris, curated by Suzanne de Conninck, France
Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services
Quebecor, Northropp Aviation, Château Laurier, the cities of Montreal, Ottawa, Grande Vallée, Paris, and Los Angeles
Bibliographies, References, and Literature (Overview)
Cormier, Pierre-Paul. “At the Edge of Imagination,” Le Droit, Ottawa, June 2, 1984, p. 30.
Daigneault, Gilles. “Exhibitions,” Le Devoir, Montreal, May 26, 1984, p. 35.
Duquette, Jean-Pierre. “Hugh John Barrett’s Garden,” Vie des Arts, September 1984, p. 63.
O’Leary, Marie-France, “Barrett, Alchemist of Color,” Vie des Arts, Fall 1970, p. 72.
O’Leary, Marie-France, “Hugh Barrett,” Vie des Arts, Fall 1971, pp. 27-29.
“A Rediscovery: Hugh Barrett’s Paintings at the Cultural Centre,” La Voix de l’Est, Granby, Quebec, November 4, 1975.
“A Renowned Quebec Painter Exhibits at the Cultural Centre,” L’Étoile de l’Outaouais, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, November 6, 1975.
“An Intoxicating Painting with the Power of Its Gesture,” La Voix de l’Est, Granby, Quebec, April 1975.
“A Memorable Exhibition: Barrett, Durocher, Charland,” Pharillon-Voyageur, Gaspé, Quebec, May 7, 1975.
“A Rich Work Reveals Its Worlds…”, Le Réveil, Chicoutimi, Quebec, May 1, 1973.
“Hugh John Barrett, One of the Great Hopes of Canadian Painting,” Le Soleil, Quebec City, Quebec, April 8, 1972.
Marie-José Beaudoin and Hugh John Barrett: Painters Inspired by Acadia, Artists Between Two Waters: La Rochelle, Museum of Fine Arts, May 21 – July 25, 1982 – Published by: La Rochelle – Museum of Fine Arts – 1982
Art in Quebec Since 1940 by Guy Robert, La Presse, Mtl., 1973, pp. 170-171
Visual Artists by André Comeau, Bellarmin, Mtl., 1983, p. 24
Landscape in Painting in Quebec by Guy Boulizon, Editions M. Broquet, Laprairie, Que., 1984, pp. 42, 43
Biographical Notes/Reproduction of Painting, Gal. Bernard Desroches, Mtl., 1984
MMFA Spring Exhibitions 1880-1970 by E. de R. McMann, UTP, Toronto., 1988, P.19
Colin S. MacDonald
A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker
National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada
Sources: Archives Gallery, Wikipedia. Erudit and more
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