Charles Huot
(1855 - 1930)
Canadian painter and illustrator
Charles Édouard Masson Huot born April 6, 1855 in Quebec and died January 27, 1930 in Sillery was a painter, illustrator and teacher. After studying at the college of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, he began studies at the École normale Laval in Quebec and it was at this establishment that he discovered a passion for painting. This passion, which he developed by visiting several exhibitions, particularly during the presentation of the Joseph-Légaré collection at Laval University in 1872 and possibly thanks to a meeting between him and the artist Cornelius Krieghoff.
After several requests, he decided to leave for Paris to enter the studio of the academic painter Alexandre Cabanel in 1875.
He took part in several exhibitions and salons from 1876 to 1885 and it was precisely during the 1877 salon where he presented an oil on canvas entitled The Good Samaritain (kept at the Tavet-Delacourt Museum, in Pontoise in France) that would forge his reputation. . This work made such an echo that a year later it was bought by the French government. In the meantime, he finished his studies at the Beaux-Arts in 1879.
At the end of this period, Huot married a pastor's daughter, Louise Schlachter in Bélitz, and returned to Quebec a year later. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate then entrusted him with the decoration of the Church of Saint-Sauveur and he found himself crowned with the prestige of the studies and the career he made in Europe. He exhibited his works then, everywhere and mainly on rue Notre-Dame in Montreal, which led him to win the silver medal at the second exhibition of the White and Black in Paris.
During this period, he received several orders, including 13 paintings for the decoration of religious buildings as well as for the Parliament Building where you can find his works Sovereign Council or debate on languages. A few days later he returned to Paris to begin the realization of his first large-scale work The End of the World which will be exhibited in Germany in 1888, during the first three days when the painting was presented "more than 3,000 people went to admire this masterpiece ”report the newspapers of Rostock and Schwerin. These newspapers will be regularly taken up by the Quebec periodicals which ensure his reputation in Quebec for his definitive return to the country on October 28, 1889.
In the summer of 1890, he opened his first painting school in his residence rue Grande Allée while continuing to produce works for the church and parish of St-Joseph. For several years he continued to work as a teacher and painter until 1916, when he decided to settle in Hebertville to join his great friend Charles-Elzéar Delamarre.
In 1930, Charles Huot died in Quebec at the age of 75 and was buried on January 30 in the parish of Saint-Colomb.