Léo LeBlanc's paintings, just like the artist's life itself, is disarming in its simplicity. Little white houses with black roofs, small little people, a few animals, mostly horses, cows and dogs, a few trucks and tractors: these are what populate his landscapes, often squashed under the low sky of the Cocagne area. In spite of this simplicity of style, Léo was able to capture the soul of the ordinary Acadian people who lived and still live in this corner of the world.

Despite Léo LeBlanc's short painting career, a career which lasted only thirteen years, he achieved a certain celebrity which could be the envy of many professional artists. He was interviewed on radio and television. Articles were published on this artist-farmer in newspapers and magazines as well-known as Vie des Arts ("Art Life"). His work has been shown across Canada, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Some of his work is part of the Canada Council collection and is found at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and at the Musée des beaux-arts ("Museum of Fine Arts") in Sherbrooke, Québec. One of his winter scenes was acquired by the Musée d'art naïf ("Museum of Folk Art") d'île-de-France in Paris. This work was reproduced at the same time as the paintings of eight other Canadians in Gilles Mermet's work La Cité et les naïfs ("The City and Folk Artists").

Léo LeBlanc painted on cardboard mounted canvas, and he had the curious habit of listing those persons and organizations who owned his work on the back of the canvas. Among these names, we find notable personalities who held an important place in the history of Canada and New Brunswick. Thus we discover the names of Pierre-Elliot Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, Richard Hatfield, former Premier of New Brunswick, and that of Antonine Maillet, Acadian author of international renown.

Léo LeBlanc, painter of the simple and the serene, was a folk artist who knew how to allow himself to be loved and touched by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him.

...translation of an extract from the Université de Moncton art gallery's web site, from which these images have been borrowed with permission.