artist biography

Canadian CSPWC, CGP, CSGA, FCA, OSA, RCA [1896-1989]

André Charles Biéler was born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1896. As a child, he spent twelve years living in Paris before the family immigrated to Canada in 1908.

Biéler was a member of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry during the first World War, joining in 1915. As a soldier, he was badly injured and gassed between 1916 and 17, and moved to the Topographical Section for the remainder of his time in the war effort. Upon his release, he spent time studying Lycée Carnot in Paris, and then later at the Art Students League at Woodstock, New York.

Biéler's uncle, Ernest Biéler, was a Swiss painter and muralist in his own right, and the younger Andre spent a number of years studying with him in Switzerland. He returned to live full-time in Canada around 1927, when he moved to Ile d'Orleans at Quebec, and here he found influence from A.Y. Jackson and the work of the Group of Seven as he focused on capturing the Quebec landscape.

Biéler taught at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario from 1936 until 1963. He was the organizer and chairman for the first Conference of Canadian Artists held at Queen's in 1940, which would lead to the foundation of the Federation of Canadian Artists in 1941. He also spent time teaching summer programs at the Banff School of Fine Arts throughout the forties and fifties. He received the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967, was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1987. Biéler died at Kingston, Ontario in 1989.