Andre Charles Bieler [Canadian, 1896-1989] Woodcutter Adjusting Saw Woodblock

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Andre Charles Bieler [Canadian, 1896-1989]
RCA, OSA, CSPWC, CGP, CSGA, P-FCA

[Woodcutter Adjusting Saw]

6 3/4 x 5 inches (12.9 x 17.3 cm).

Woodblock & Pochoir on paper.

Signed in pencil. [1912].

Framed (some specks under the glass & some wear to frame edges). 14" x 15 1/4" (35.7 x 38.2 cm)

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Andre Charles Bieler [1896-1989] was a Swiss-born Canadian painter and teacher. He emigrated to Canada in 1908 and studied at Westmount Academy and then the Institut Technique de Montreal. He enlisted in the fight in World War I and was badly injured. Upon his return he and convalesced in Florida, where he took art classes with Harry Davis Fluhart. He also studied at the New York Art Students League in Woodstock, New York, under Charles Rosen and Eugene Speicher after accepting a veteran's grant.

He is known for his genre pictures of life in rural Quebec. He was the first president of the Federation of Canadian Artists (1942–1944), and was instrumental in the foundation of the Canada Council and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario.

Returning to Montreal, he met members of the Beaver Hall Group. From 1922 to 1926, Biéler lived primarily in Switzerland, where he apprenticed with his uncle, the painter and muralist Ernest Biéler. During this period, he spent several months in Paris, studying at the Académie Ranson under Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier, and held his first solo exhibition in 1924 at the Montreal Art Association.

When Biéler returned permanently to Canada in 1926, he soon became immersed in the Quebec art scene and began a lifelong friendship with Edwin Holgate. His keen interest in traditional village society led him to settle for three years on the Île d'Orléans, where he began sketching the habitant life. It was during this time that he met A. Y. Jackson.

In 1930, Biéler moved back to Montreal and founded, along with John Lyman, the short-lived Atelier art school. He made frequent painting trips to the Laurentians and moved to Saint-Adèle for a year. In 1936, he took up a position as artist-in-residence at Queen's University, Kingston, where he remained until his retirement in 1963. While teaching courses in art history, art appreciation, as well as studio art, he continued to be a highly productive artist in a variety of media. In 1941, he organized the first national artists' conference, know as the Kingston Conference, which lead to the foundation of the Federation of Canadian Artists.

He was the founding director of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, serving in the post from 1957 to 1963. He stayed in Kingston after his retirement and continued his prolific career as a painter, printmaker, and sculptor until his death in 1989. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law at Queen's in 1964 and the Order of Canada in 1987, a few months before his death.

He developed a pneumatic, relief printing press and established The Twelve Pines Press. Bélier was the subject of 25 solo exhibitions and the recipient of the 1957 J. W. L. Forster Award from the Ontario Society of Artists, as well as the Canadian Centennial Medal.

In 2000, the refurbished Agnes Etherington Art Centre re-opened with a new edition: the featured André Biéler Studio, named after him in honour of his accomplishments for Queen's University.

See Artists in Canada: A List of Artists' Files. National Gallery of Canada: 1999.