René Richard: Le Voyage d'un solitaire 1930–1933 by Jean-Guy Quenneville (review)

206 LETTERS IN CANADA 1987 characterize the period, such as the apartment block (Benvenuto Place) or the town-house and shopping centre (Don Mills), is equally refreshing and welcome. Where the catalogue falls short of its program is in the enthusiasm which allows buildings such as Sidney Smith Hall or the Ramsay Wright Zoological Building to dilute the sound argument which stresses the qualities of the Mechanical Building and of Massey College. Little attention is paid to the interiors, which more often than not justify all the criticism the Modern Movement has received from the users of its 'pure' and 'functional' products - Sidney Smith is a case in point. However, even if one may wish to challenge the theses of some of the writers or disagree with the statements made - as is the case with the 'dematerialization of the boundary' of entrances as a positive factor - at least by taking a position the writers invite a reaction from the reader. The audience targetted and able to enter into this dialogue is therefore not that of Toronto Observed but rather the professional architects and planners who are familiar with both the debate and the terminology. In keeping with the intent of the exhibition, the essays are a blend of criticism, personal evaluation, historical data, and stylistic analysis. The sophisticated format of the catalogue also acknowledges an audience as sensitive to the design of a book as to that of a (Modem) building. (ALINA PAYNE) Jean-Guy Quenneville. Rene Richard: Le Voyage d'un solitaire 1930-1933 Editions du Trecarre. 149. $12.95 Rene Richard is a Canadian artist whose sketches of the North are well known to many. His life served as the inspiration for Gabrielle Roy's La Montagne secrete, a novel which she dedicated to him. The volume begins with a preface by Michel Champagne, curator of modern art at the Musee du Quebec, and friend of the artist. In addition, there is a foreword by Quenneville, a political scientistat the University of Saskatchewan, who is interested in the contributions of French-speaking Westerners to Canadian culture. He furnishes important background, as the main part of the text deals with a period of only three years in the life of Richard. The narrative is based on an interview Richard gave Quenneville. Quenneville chronicles the artist's ambitious, and often dangerous, trip from Cold Lake, Alberta to Fort Churchill on Hudson Bay. Richard's aim was to paint the Canada one rarely sees, the untamed wilderness. Quenneville gives us the highlights of this three-year adventure and enhances the story with photos of twenty sketches made by Richard during his trip. There is also a l1:1ap of the impressive area covered by the artist. Quenneville does not hesitate to explore the artist's doubts and second HUMANITIES 207 thoughts. The only certainty greater than Richard's fear is the knowledge that he must explore his link with nature in order to have something worthwhile to paint. Readers of Gabrielle Roy will recognize the simple yet profound awe in the face of the natural world and the appreciation of mankind that she clearly saw in Richard. The latter's reflections on the spontaneous generosity of the Indians, and the lack of it in the Whites of the cities, are also highly reminiscent of the Roy novel. Nor does Quenneville spare details in recounting the obstacles that Richard had to contend with on his journey - the cold, illness, blackflies, hunger, and lack of funds. The artist's meeting with a beggar in Flin Flon affords the opportunity to give a touching personal account ofhow the Depression of the 1930S affected Canada, and the West in particular. What emerges from this narrative, in spite of all this, however, is more the account of a journey than the story of a man. We learn something of the man Rene Richard but not as much as we would have liked. The accumulation of detail?of the journey tends to conceal the personality of the traveller. Quenneville says ofRichard and a friend, 'les deux hommes s'amusaient de ces menus details du quotidien.' The reader would have been happier with either fewer 'menus details' or...