Gaston Rebry’s First Carreer.

For most of his admirers, in Quebec, Canada and abroad, Gaston Rebry represents the ultimate in landscape painting for much of the second half of the twentieth century.

What is less known is the original career that Rebry had begun in his native Belgium. Indeed, Gaston Rebry first encountered celebrity in a discipline quite different from that which made that his name a reference in the annals of the world of art.

Born on October 30, 1933 in Wevelgem, Belgium, our hero was first and foremost the son of the legendary cyclist, Gaston Rebry Sr. Whom, even today,  is regarded as one of the most important cyclists of the first half of his century.

Winner of three Paris-Roubais (1931,1934 and 1935), Tour de Flandres and four stages of the Tour de France, he is a legend among fans of cycling history.

---

Gaston Jr., who in his own words idolized his father, also went into cycling competition in the late 1940s. This first career will be marked by 48 victories out of 50 races he participated in as well as a junior championship of Belgium at the age of 16!

At the same time, he attended a classes at the Academy of Fine Arts in Menin, where he won first prize twice.

In 1953, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 48. This event was a shock, a tragedy and a decisive moment in the life of our artist in the making. Right after, he loses all motivation and completely abandons competing.

He arrives in Montreal where his sister lives in 1954, to better mourn his father. He enrolls at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts and, by the 1960s becomes a professional painter.

He leaves a major artistic legacy and is now part of the legend of the art world in Quebec.

Thanks to Stefano de Palo for the memories