Narcisse Poirier
Canadian artist , Montée Saint-Michel Painter.
Narcisse Poirier was born in Saint-Félix de Valois, Quebec in 1883. At the age of 16, he enrolled in the Conseil des arts et manufactures de la Province, located in the Monument National of Montreal. He was then the student of Edmond Dyonnet, Joseph Saint-Charlres and Alfred Laliberté. He then left for France accompanied by his painter friend Rodolphe Duguay and perfected his art at the Académie Julian.
He became a member of the Montée St-Michel Group, founded by the painter Ernest Aubin and remained there from 1907 until 1936. Like Georges Delfosse, the painter Poirier produced religious works and church decorations. Among these, we count the church of Saint-Eustache, Notre-Dame-du-Très-Saint-Sacrement of Montreal, Rivière-du-Loup and his hometown Saint-Félix-de-Valois.
From 1925, Narcisse Poirier exhibited at the Morency gallery and the Royal Academy of Canada. He will also participate in several group exhibitions with his former teacher and sculptor Alfred Laliberté. For a period of 25 years, he will also exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In 1932, he also won first prize for his work Le Temps des Sucres and was reproduced in the Journal La Presse in 1940.
Despite the rise of modern painting, Narcisse Poirier remains faithful to representing the nature and landscapes of Quebec. Narcisse Poirier testifies to a mastery of still life that he enjoyed making with his painter friend Jean Viens.
Narcisse Poirier died at the age of 101 in Montreal in April 1984.