René Derouin

René Derouin

René Derouin, engraver and multi-disciplinary artist (b at Montréal 28 Apr 1936). Resolutely unconventional in regard to artistic education in Québec, he went to Mexico several times during the fifties. There, he discovered engraving, reflected with great mural painters (notably Siqueiros and Tamayo whose work he admired) about the social function of art, visited most pre-Columbian sites, and immersed himself in the profound connections with pre-colonial civilizations that would forever mark his work. On his return, he worked on etching with Albert DUMOUCHEL and wood engraving with the Japanese masters. In the mid seventies, he built his own home-workshop in the rock of a hillside in Val-David. There, he installed a press that he himself had designed and embarked on an engraving venture that would evolve naturally into painting, sculpture and installations. Since 1959, Derouin has exhibited regularly in Québec and Canada, the United States and especially in Mexico. In 1996, he created a foundation bearing his name that welcomes major interdisciplinary cultural events to Val-David. In 1999, he received the prix Paul-Émile-Borduas, the Québec Government's highest distinction accorded to a visual artist.

In 2006, René Derouin was awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle by the Government of Mexico. The award, made during a ceremony held in Montréal, was presented in recognition of Derouin's professional career in Mexico and around the world.