Date Published:
July 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Robert Ford Gagen

Gagen, Robert Ford (1847-1926), painter, was born in London, England, on May 10, 1847, the eldest son of John J. Gagen, an architect. He came to Canada with his parents in 1865, and settled in Seaforth, Huron county, Ontario. Later he moved to Toronto, and entered the employ of Notman and Fraser, photographers. He studied painting under John A. Fraser; and in 1872 he became a charter member of the Ontario Society of Artists. In 1880 he was elected an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and in 1915 a member. He was particularly successful as a painter of seascapes, though he did many excellent landscapes, including some paintings of the Rocky mountains . In 1889 he was elected secretary of the Ontario Society of Artists, and he held this position until his death, at Toronto, on March 2, 1926 . In 1873 he married Jane, daughter of John Palmer, of Scarborough, Ontario ; and by her he had two daughters.

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. III, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., pp.  1-2.