Claude Gauvin

Following studies at the École des Beaux-arts de Montréal from 1957 to 1961, Claude Gauvin led a nomadic life in several European countries and the United States before returning to Acadie. Upon her return, she taught painting and drawing in the Visual Arts Department at the Université de Moncton from 1978 to 2004. Her realistic painting style was not something explored in Acadie and echoed more the work being done by English-speaking artists. The strength of this determined artist was expressed in her works through their calmness, solitude, and intimate quality, and in her teaching through her rigour and critical thinking.

As an instructor, she was devoted to her students’ learning and was motivated by their potential. She was also the first woman to chair the Visual Arts Department at the Université de Moncton, a position to which she was named in 1989. She was one of the first women to serve as a model for artists in Acadie and certainly had a decisive influence on many of them.

- Courtesy of Images Rémanentes