Henri Masson

1 work

Henri Léopold Masson (1907–1996) was born in Belgium and immigrated to Ottawa with his mother in 1921. Largely self-taught, he combined a deep narrative instinct with a fluid style inspired by the Group of Seven, whose work he first encountered at the National Gallery of Canada. He began exhibiting nationally in 1938 and internationally in 1946, and by the 1940s was one of Ottawa’s most celebrated painters. The National Film Board produced a documentary about him in 1944. His paintings of working-class neighbourhoods, rural Quebec, and everyday Canadian life are marked by bright colour, movement, and a generosity of spirit.