Henri Julien (baptized Octave-Henri Julien; 14 May 1852 – 17 September 1908) was a Canadian

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

noted for his work for the ''

Canadian Illustrated News The ''Canadian Illustrated News'' was a weekly Canada, Canadian illustrated magazine published in Montreal from 1869 to 1883. It was published by George-Édouard Desbarats, George Desbarats. The magazine was notable for being the first in the w ...

'' and for his political cartoons in the '' Montreal Daily Star''. His pseudonyms include Octavo and Crincrin. He was the first full-time newspaper editorial cartoonist in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Personal history and career

Octave-Henri Julien was born in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

on 14 May 1852 to Henri and Zoé Julien and grew up in the Saint-Roch neighbourhood. His father worked as a turner for a mechanical press and his brothers Émile and Télesphore also went on to work in printing. Early influences on Julien include caricatures by the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Côté, who lived nearby among the artisans of saint-Roche, and the country folk of nearby L'Ange-Gardien who inspired many of Julien's later drawings. After the elder Julien won work with the Queen's printer George-Paschal Desbarats the family frequently moved as the capital of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

moved:

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in 1855–59, Quebec City in 1859–65, and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in 1866–68, where he attended the College of Ottawa. He thereafter moved to Montreal where he apprenticed as an engraver at Leggo and Company, a partnership between William Leggo and George-Édouard Desbarats, where he met cartoonists such as Edward Jump who worked for Desbarats's illustrated magazines ''

'' and '' L'Opinion publique''. Julien cartooned in Desbarats's employ until 1888; during this time he contributed to numerous other publications as well, including ''Le Canard'' and ''Le Violon'' published by

Hector Berthelot Hector Berthelot (March 4, 1842 – September 15, 1895) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist, columnist, satirist, caricaturist, photographer and publisher who was born in Trois-Rivières. He was not married and died in Montreal. He is most wel ...

, sometimes under pseudonyms such as Crincrin (in ''Le Violon'' from 1878 to 1903) and Octavo. His work included caricatures of politicians and illustrated journalism. In 1874 he accompanied

George Arthur French Major-General Sir George Arthur French (19 June 1841 – 7 July 1921) was an Irish soldier who served as an officer in the British Army, as the first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, from October 1873 to July 1876, and as Comman ...

and the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

on an expedition to the fork of the Bow and

Belly River Belly River is a river in northwest Montana, United States and southern Alberta, Canada. It is a tributary of the Oldman River, itself a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River. The name of the river may come from the Blackfoot word of , mea ...

s in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

; his drawings of the Canadian West appeared in the ''

'' and ''L'Opinion publique'' in 1874–75, including a report on combatting contraband alcohol sales in Fort Whoop-Up. Julien spent six months in New York in 1888; upon his return to Canada the same year he became artistic director at the '' Montreal Daily Star'', which thus became the first Canadian newspaper to employ a full-time editorial cartoonist. Julien stayed with the paper for 22 years and built his reputation illustrating historical even and journalistic pieces, as well as drawing caricatures of members of Parliament in the House of Commons in Ottawa. He drew notice in 1897–1900 when he had published a number of caricatures of

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...

and his cabinet as blackface minstrels under the title "By-Town Coons". His best known work was of rural French Canadians which he started making about 1875 and continued for the rest of his life. From 1900 he took up painting, particularly commissions for scenes from French Canadian culture. His works appeared in exhibitions at the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

in 1899 and 1907 and at the Salon of the Art Association of Montreal in 1908. Julien drew with speed and accuracy and attracted note for his skill at capturing expressions and gestures. He illustrated the annual and his work appeared in other Canadian publications such as John Wilson Bengough's ''Grip'', Desbarats's '' Dominion Illustrated'', ''Favourite'', ''Jester'', ''Canard'', and ''Grelot'', as well as foreign publications such as the American ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper (publisher), Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many su ...

'', the British ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd with Thomas's brother, Lewis Samuel Thomas, as a co-founder. The Graphic was set up as ...

'', and the French '' Le Monde illustré'' and ''

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' (; 1843–1944) was a French language, French illustrated weekly newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in ...

''. Julien married Marie-Louise Legault '' dit'' Deslauriers (d. 1924) in Montreal on 17 October 1876; of the couple's eighteen children, seven daughters and one son survived into adulthood. Julien died in Montreal on 17 September 1908. of a sudden stroke of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

on St. James Street across from the St. Lawrence Hall. He had just left the ''Montreal Star'' in apparent good health with his son. At the time he was developing sketches for a parade to celebrate Quebec's 300th anniversary.

Le Vieux de '37

''Le Vieux de '37'' (French for "The Old Man of '37") is the name under which is known an illustration by Julien created in approximately 1880 to illustrate ''Le vieux patriote'', a poem from Louis Fréchette. It depicts a participant of the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...

of 1837 and 1838 which sought to make of

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

(present-day

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) a democratic republic independent from the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. It is nowadays one of the best known symbols of the Rebellion. It was used by the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...

as an illustration for pamphlets and communiqués during the 1960s and the year 1970. Some contemporary Patriote flags are flanked with them in their center.

Legacy

The sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert eulogized Julien as "the most original talent in this country". A posthumous collection of his cartoons appeared in the ''Album Henri Julien'' in 1916. The architect William Sutherland Maxwell toured an exhibition of 125 unpublished works by Julien in 1936. The show visited Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City. The

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

organized a retrospective of Julien's work in 1938, a unique event for a cartoonist in Canada. A print by Henri Julien of the "

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

Uniform of Cadets", which appeared in the ''Canadian Illustrated News'' is in the

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (CWM) () is a National museums of Canada, national museum on the military history of Canada, country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military hist ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. Accession Number: 19850291-004. The gallery L'Art français exhibited his works in 1968. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec holds the most important collection of Julien's work, including ''La Chasse-galerie'', Julien's best-known painting, inspired by a French-Canadian legend about a flying canoe.

List of books

* ''Sous les pins'' (1902) – written by Adolphe Poisson with illustrations by Julien * ''La légende d'un peuple'' (1908) – written by Louis-Honoré Fréchette with illustrations by Julien * ''Album Henri Julien'' (1916)

Gallery

File:Julien Demenagement 1876.jpg, Moving scene, '' L'Opinion publique'', 18 May 1876 File:Six Months in the Wilds of the North-West.gif, ''Six Months in the Wilds of the North-West'', ''

'', 13 February 1875 File:Le Patriote - Henri Julien 1904.jpg, ''Le Patriote'', gouache on brown paper, 1904 File:La Chasse-galerie (1906).jpg, ''La Chasse-galerie'', oil on canvas, 1906

Notes

References

Works cited

* * * *

External links

*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julien, Henri 1852 births 1908 deaths Canadian comics writers Canadian comics artists Canadian editorial cartoonists Canadian male painters Artists from Montreal Artists from Quebec City Quebec comics Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Montreal Star people