[4] A year after his expulsion he switched to an English-language Protestant school, Sir George Williams College and it was there that he took his first art course.
In the meantime he played gigs at night, and also organized a few jam sessions in 1955–56 at Galerie L'Actuelle, founded by Guido Molinari.
[6] Gaucher then returned to the École to study printmaking with Albert Dumouchel, where he created a controversial technique of heavy embossing.
In his artworks, he began to incorporate more irregular geometries as opposed to strictly geometric forms, as well as greater contrasts of colour.
[2] Gaucher's prints of the late 1950s and early 1960s were technically innovative and demonstrated extensive experimentation with relief and lamination, and have been described as delighting in "material physicality.
"[9] He garnered national and international attention, and won prizes at major print shows in Canada, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, and Grenchen, Switzerland.
A major influence in his early paintings were artists such as Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko, who were New York Abstract Expressionists.
Some of the characteristics of the artwork he produced in this period include the use of regular geometric objects and flat panels of colour on unusually large canvases.
[2] In 1966, works by Gaucher along with those of Alex Colville and Sorel Etrog represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.
Gaucher's interest in mathematical art persisted, as he created works based on chaos theory and the diagonal line.
[13] However, a shoulder injury and other health problems would force him to paint on smaller surfaces, and he returned to creating collages, one of his earlier practices.