Roger Quesnel
I aim to capture the spirit of a scene with a focus on atmosphere. It’s not about painting pretty scenes, but rather re-connecting my viewer to a memory or feeling. To momentarily transport them.
Biography
Roger Quesnel is an award-winning Canadian contemporary impressionist artist best known for his ethereal, atmospheric cloudscapes and landscapes. He was born in 1961 in Ottawa, Ontario and currently resides near Toronto. His paintings have won numerous awards and features and are held in private and corporate collections and art galleries throughout Canada. He received his formal art training in high school under the guidance and mentorship of artist and teacher, Samuel Saunders and studied Fine Arts at York University in Toronto.
His paintings are emotive and atmospheric, confronting the viewer’s emotions and drawing them in with a powerful sense of movement, energy and depth. Mystery is created by loose, gestural brushwork and minimal detail, inviting flirtation with curiosity. There is a feel of the spiritual in his works that puts the viewer in touch with a glimpse of the otherworldly. A sense of place or of being in a moment - that touches one deeply - connecting to the viewer’s yearning and search for their own spiritual homeland within.
Roger's contemporary paintings are a modern and creative rethinking of classical impressionism. Not purely classical impressionism, but with a spirit of classical painting and a modern look. They have a nuanced, dreamy aura about them, created by the right balance of emotive brushstrokes and soft, fluid, blended edges, enhancing depth and atmosphere. His paintings also exhibit classical influences of tonalism, expressionism and minimalism, bordering into semi-abstraction. His limited muted colour palette is refined and gentle, soothing the viewer with subtle tones and shades.
Working with acrylics on large and medium size canvases, his paintings have a freshness and one-of-a-kind quality to them, that stems from the fact that they are all created from his imagination, stored memories and emotions.
His goal and hope for the viewer of his work, is to create in them a sense of peace, joy or even a nostalgic familiarity to his painting, that speaks to their soul and leaves them in a happy state of mind.
Art Gallery Representation:
ArtMatch Art Gallery
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Artmajeur Gallery
Paris, France
Biggs Art Gallery
Aurora, Ontario, Canada
Fine Art America
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Influences
J.M.W. Turner, Claude Monet, John Constable, George Inness, Maurice Sapiro, Kerr Ashmore, Richard Whadcock, Adriano Farinella
Education
The artist at work
Prizes and Awards
2025 Fine Art America (FAA) - 43 Artist Of Distinction Awards United States
2025 Fine Art America (FAA) - 2,148 paintings chosen as Special Features by art curators United States
2023 Fine Art America (FAA) - 2nd Place Award, Juried Contest Best Of 2023, Mystery Group, For The Painting “Celestine Light” United States
Permanent Collections
2024 ArtMatch Art Gallery Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2024 Biggs Art Gallery Aurora, Ontario, Canada
