Richard is known for his speed and the immediacy that comes from the paintings he makes most of the time on reused wood panels because, for this intense artist, the creative process is more important than the results. It is even said, by certain people who have known him well, that he has destroyed more paintings than he has shown.

In 1967, he had his first official recognition, when the “Musée du Québec” (now the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec) devoted a solo exhibition to him. The same museum would hold a major retrospective of his work in 1977.