Born into a modest family, he began his studies at the Seraphic College then at the Seminars of  Three Rivers  and of  Nicolet. An undisciplined student, he abandoned his studies at the end of his rhetoric and began to compose poems and then to paint. Trained to drink during his studies by a priest unaware of the harm he was going to cause him, he learned very early to “raise his elbow”. Even though his parents are worried about his future, they recognize his talent and encourage him. A friend of the family, the geographer  Raoul Blanchard, advises him to enroll in the School of Fine Arts.