Biography of Claude T. Picard

Claude Picard was born in 1932 in Edmundston, New Brunswick. In 1946, when he was only 14, he won a national award in an artistic competition. He then undertook a three-year study trip in Europe from 1956-1959. Mr. Picard depicts landscapes of his region, and also portraits, murals and historical paintings. Some of his portraits are at the Senate of Canada and the National Library of Canada in Ottawa, at the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in Fredericton, at the University of Moncton, and at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John.

In 2005, six large historical paintings, collectively titled Les grandes heures du peuple acadien (Momentous Landmarks of the Acadian People), were put up by the Association du Musée acadien de l’Î.-P.-É. at the Acadian Museum in Miscouche, P.E.I. In 2001, a historical mural commemorating the founders of the Cercles d’études des Caisses populaires acadiennes au Nouveau-Brunswick, was commissioned by the Fédération des Caisses populaires acadiennes of Caraquet. In 1992, Mr. Picard created four murals on Acadian history for the Citadelle de Vauban Museum in Belle-Ile-en-Mer, France, a mural entitled Se garder jeune for the Club d’Âge d’Or of Saint-Basile, N.B., and another mural called Il leur impose les mains for the church in Saint-Jacques, N.B. In 1986, he won a competition organized by Parks Canada for the realization of six paintings depicting the story of the Acadians, which are on exhibit at the commemorative church at Grand-Pré, N.S. In 1985, he painted a historical mural for the City of Edmundston called La Vie au Madawaska 1785-1985. In 1966, he painted the mural Le Découvreur for the Edmundston Community College and at the beginning of the 1960’s, he did two other murals for the Notre-Dame-des-Flots Church in Lamèque, N.B.

For many years, he has been painting red chalk (sanguine) portraits for the Edmundston and Campbellton Sports Halls of Fame.

His painting Le départ vers l’exile 1755 (Ships take Acadians into Exile-1755) is on the official First Day Cover of the 2005 Acadian Deportation Stamp, which was unveiled in Caraquet, N.B., by Canada Post. In 1992, he received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation (of Canada). In 1990 he was awarded the Gold Professional Award by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada for his paintings displayed on the historical map Acadie, l’Odyssée d’un peuple (Acadia, the Odyssey of a People).

Canada Council grants were given to him in 1982 and 1992. In 1996, he received an Honorary Doctorate degree in Visual Arts from the University of Moncton.

In 2004, he was named “Personnalité Richelieu 2004” by the Edmundston Richelieu Club. The same year, he was chosen the winner of the Miller Brittain Award for his excellence in visual arts offered by the New Brunswick Arts Council. In 2005, he was honoured by the City of Edmundston, N.B., for his involvement in promoting the arts. The same year, the award “La petite nyctale” was given to him by the Association du Musée acadien de l’Î.-P.-É. of Miscouche for his involvement in the Acadian cause.

In 2006, the Musée acadien de l’Î.-P.É. in Miscouche, P.E.I. named a room “Galerie Claude Picard” in his honour. He received the Société Louis-Napoléon-Dugal Award for his contribution to the valorization of French and Acadian culture in the Madawaska region. He was inducted into the Edmundston Arts Hall of Fame (trahf Edmundston).

Mr. Picard resides in Saint-Basile (Edmundston), New Brunswick.