Rene Marcil was a painter, draftsman, fashion illustrator and commercial artist.

Though he was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada he lived most of his professional life outside Canada.  His primary residences since 1941 were: New York City (1941 - 1952); Paris, France (1952 - 1965); London, England, 1965 - 1980); and Tourrettes-sur-Loup, France [15 miles north of Cannes, 10 miles east of Nice] (1981 - 1991). (1)

His mediums were oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache*, pencil crayon, graphite, chalk, charcoal, marker, mixed mediums and pen & ink.  His subjects were social commentary, nudes, sex, figures, faces, landscapes, interiors, still life, celebrities and as an abstractionist - shape, color and texture.  His styles were Expressionism*, Fauvism*, Realism*, Surrealism* and Geometric Abstraction*. AskART have some good illustrations of his work.

His formal art education includes the École des Beaux Arts*, Montreal (at age 14), where he studied from 1931 to 1935; and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière*, Paris (c. 1952). (2)

His career includes working as a fashion illustrator for the Montreal department stores Morgan's and Eaton's; and in New York for Lord and Taylor. In Europe he worked as an independent artist creating paintings and drawings.

His works are currently (2011) exhibited in Odon Wagner Gallery, Toronto, Ontario and Galerie Rienzo, New York City.

A selection of Marcil's erotic works were used to illustrate Robert J. Langevin's 2008 book Rene Marcil & Emile Zola: Nana, based on Emile Zola's 1880 novel Nana.

Marcil's works are frequently traded on the Canadian auction market and they're in many private collections. However, according to the Canadian Heritage Information Network* and the Quebec Museum Society, the only Canadian museum that has his works in their permanent collection is the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax.