Andre Bieler: An Artist's Life and Times [DVD] [2006]

A lavishly illustrated biography of the "people's artist" who celebrated habitant life.

André Biéler was born in 1896 in Switzerland. The nephew of the important Swiss painter Ernest Biéler, André moved with his family to France, where he studied art, and then to Canada. His education was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, which saw him return to France as a soldier.

In this richly illustrated book, Frances K. Smith traces the roots of the Biéler family and covers the development of the artist, from his apprenticeship to his exploration of rural habitant life along the shores and islands of Quebec. André Biéler would emerge as an artist of extraordinary creative energy, working in printmaking as well as oils.

After moving to Kingston, Ontario, in 1936 as resident artist and professor at Queen's University, Biéler helped establish the Agnes Etherington Gallery. In 1941 he organized the first conference of Canadian artists, an event that eventually would lead to the formation of the Canada Council.

Biéler's subject was people, and he was known fondly as the "people's artist." He continued to paint through his 80s. He died in 1989, leaving an important legacy. This revised and much expanded edition of Frances K. Smith's 1980 book features hundreds of color images and defines André Biéler as an artist of classic, sustained and versatile talent.