Born in Montreal, P.Q., from his earliest childhood he was interested in
art and painted surprisingly good landscapes at the age of 12. He
attended life classes at the Royal Canadian Academy School where he
received instruction from William Brymner and Maurice Cullen. He was
however largely self-taught. He was known for his landscapes early
and had a painting accepted by the Royal Canadian Academy about
1913. Later he entered the field of design, graphics, decoration, and
illustration. He established a studio on St. Catherine Street West in
Montreal but later moved to Westmount. His fine portrait “Lalage” was
exhibited in the Montreal Spring Exhibition in 1923 and was purchased
by the National Gallery of Canada the same year. In 1932 he was
noted by A. H. Robson in Canadian Landscape Painters as a brilliant
artist, painting with fine colour and originality of design. His subjects
also included seascapes and figure studies. Much of his inspiration for
seascapes no doubt came from his summers spent in Rockport,
Massachusetts where he had a studio from 1923 until his death. He
did a number of murals for the Canadian Pacific Railway Offices and
hotels. One of his murals adorned the Laurentian Hotel in Montreal,
others were done for oil, power, and aluminum companies and public
buildings. In 1926 he won the R.C.A. mural competition to do a
decoration for the women’s waiting room in Windsor Station, in
Montreal. Sixty entries were submitted for the competition and six
artists were chosen for mural work at various places in the city. In
1939 he did mural work for the Canadian Pavilion at the New York
Worlds Fair. Generally speaking Perrigard painted in a simplified,
realistic form, designed his work well, and had a colourful palette. He
worked in oils, watercolours, pastels, and charcoal. A sample of his
book design and illustration work can be seen in Stephen Leacock’s
Canada, TheFoundations of its Future published by The House of
Seagram in 1941. His paintings were reviewed by The Gazette in 1948
as follows, “Hal Ross Perrigard . . . is holding an exhibition of his oils in
the Arts Club . . . the collection revealing this Montreal artists feeling for
decorative arrangement and harmonious colour. The works throughout
are well composed, totally free of exaggeration and soundly painted.
Landscapes are the favorite subject and these he treats at all seasons
of the year. He was an active member of many art societies including
the Art Club of Montreal (1917); Rockport Art Association (1923);
A.R.C.A. (1924); North Shore Artists Association of Gloucester; Artists
Guild of Canada; Pen and Pencil Club, Montreal; and was in touch with
the Beaver Hall Hill Group. He exhibited with the Ontario Society of
Artists. His hobbies included woodworking and craft work with
copper, brass, pewter, and plastics. He became Director of Galleries
of the Rockport Art Association (1930-1935) and was on its Advisory
Board. He died suddenly in his 69th year and was survived by his
wife Pauline Bradley Perrigard, an amateur playwright, originally from
Sherbrooke, Quebec, also by two brothers Stanley and Rev. George
Perrigard of Montreal. His works are in the permanent collections of
the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Musée du Québec and in
private collections in Canada, United States, Hawaii, England, Holland,
Belgium, Austria, and elsewhere. The few know solo shows of his
paintings include: The Arts Club, Mtl. (1948, 1950); The Gallery (Gemst
Bldg.), Mtl. (retrospective show, 1962). His work was also handled by
the Continental Galleries and Galerie de l’Art François, Montréal. He
exhibited in group shows in many countries including the British Empire
Exhibitions at Wembley.
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