{{Short description|Canadian sculptor (1930–2025)}} {{For|the French Olympic bobsledder|Claude Roussel (athlete)}} {{For|the French Olympic rower|Jean-Claude Roussel}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Use Canadian English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Claude Roussel | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|ONB}} | image = Claude Roussel.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|7|6}} | birth_place = Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|5|28|1930|7|6}} | death_place = Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | alma_mater = {{nobr|École des beaux-arts de Montréal}} | occupation = {{Hlist|Sculptor|painter|educator}}{{force singular}} | years_active = 1959–1992 | awards = ''See list'' | website = {{URL|https://www.clauderoussel.ca}} }}
'''Claude P. Roussel''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|ONB}} (July 6, 1930 – May 28, 2025) was a Canadian sculptor, painter and educator. He is considered a pioneer of Acadian modern art.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alam |first=Hina |date=November 20, 2024 |title=Famous Fredericton beaver sculpture finds new home in downtown art gallery |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-famous-fredericton-beaver-sculpture-finds-new-home-in-downtown-art/ |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122152645/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-famous-fredericton-beaver-sculpture-finds-new-home-in-downtown-art/ |archive-date=November 22, 2024 |access-date=June 2, 2025 |work=The Globe and Mail |agency=The Canadian Press}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Claude Roussel (Canadian, 1930– ), CM ONB |url=https://live.jonesauctions.ca/lots/view/5-1OU9LD/claude-roussel-canadian-1930-cm-onb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320120326/https://live.jonesauctions.ca/lots/view/5-1OU9LD/claude-roussel-canadian-1930-cm-onb |archive-date=March 20, 2025 |access-date=June 2, 2025 |website=Jones Auction House}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
==Early life and education== Roussel was born on July 6, 1930, in Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Claude Roussel |url=https://trahfe.ca/en/claude-roussel/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250530145726/https://trahfe.ca/en/claude-roussel/ |archive-date=May 30, 2025 |access-date=May 30, 2025 |website=Temple de la Renommée des Arts d'Edmundston}}</ref> He was 10 years old when he began sculpting wood. At the age of 14, Roussel's artistic possibilities were discovered by Paul Carmel Laporte when Roussel showed him a plaque entitled ''Trout'' (1944), an artwork created using only a file and his own intuitive knowledge.<ref>[https://www.toucherdubois.ca/tdb/vignette.php?vignette=8&page=2&lang=fr Sculptors: relief artisans]. Toucher du bois. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212173045/https://www.toucherdubois.ca/tdb/vignette.php?vignette=8&page=2&lang=fr|date=December 12, 2024}}. Retrieved December 12, 2024.</ref> With Laporte's mentorship, Roussel advanced his wood carving techniques, and showed his early works at his first solo exhibition in 1947, at the age of 17, the year he completed his high school studies in Edmundston.
From 1950 to 1956, he studied under the tutelage of art professors at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in Quebec, Canada, where he graduated with a diploma in drawing professorship in 1955, and a diploma in sculpture in 1956.<ref name="bio">[http://www.artothequeacadie.ca/EN/18/Biographie.pdf Biography] at Artothèque: Overview of Contemporary Art in Acadia, Galerie d'art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen. Université de Moncton. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420002615/http://www.artothequeacadie.ca/EN/18/Biographie.pdf|date=April 20, 2016}}. Retrieved April 20, 2016.</ref> During his studies, Quebec's artistic revolutions of ''Refus Global'' and ''Les Automatistes'' played an influence on Roussel, who not only admired them but practised their expressive forms of art within his own work, and implemented the use of bold colours and abstract forms.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Marchand |first=Anik |date=2021 |title=The Renaissance of Contemporary Acadian Art in New Brunswick |url=https://www.createdhere.ca/stories/history-of-acadian-art-in-new-brunswick |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111190457/https://www.createdhere.ca/stories/history-of-acadian-art-in-new-brunswick |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |access-date=January 11, 2022 |website=CreatedHere}}</ref> In 1961, Roussel was awarded a Senior Fellowship from the Canada Council for the Arts to study Europe's important art, especially architectural decorations in England, France, Italy, and Spain.
==Career== After completing his studies, Roussel returned to his hometown where he became the first professional artist to teach education through art in the public school system of the province of New Brunswick.<ref name="gallery">[https://www6.umoncton.ca/artotheque/biographie-biography-eng.php?artiste=18 Biography of Claude Roussel]. Galerie d'art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen. Université de Moncton. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125034714/https://www6.umoncton.ca/artotheque/biographie-biography-eng.php?artiste=18|date=January 25, 2024}}. Retrieved January 25, 2024.</ref> From 1959 to 1961, Roussel was employed at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton as the first Francophone occupying a curatorial position. During the public announcement of his appointment, Lord Beaverbrook stated "I think young Roussel will give the gallery a major liaison with the Acadian culture of this area and at the same time impart to our French Canadian artists a real sense of belonging".<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |first= |date=October 28, 1959 |title=Sculptor Is Named To Art Staff |journal=The Moncton Times |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi= |issn=}}</ref>
In 1963, at the invitation of Clément Cormier, vice chancellor and founder of Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, and with a special grant from Canada Council for the Arts, Roussel became the first Artist-in-residence given the responsibility to develop the visual arts curriculum. He was the founding director of the university's Visual Arts Department and occupied the position from 1963 to 1971, and again from 1976 to 1979. He was also the founding director of the university's Art Gallery, from 1964 to 1967, during which he organized in 1964 an exhibition of Canadian masters – Borduas, Pellan, Riopelle and Dumouchel – and the first two major exhibitions of works by Acadian artists, Selection 65 and Selection 67. He retired from his position as professor in 1992 after a tenure of 29 years.<ref name="gallery" />
Roussel was a member of the Maritime Education Foundation and the Jack Chambers Memorial Foundation. He was chair of Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen Acquisition Fund for the Art Gallery of the University of Moncton until 1991. From 1971 to 1976, he was the founding president of Canadian Artists Representation (CARFAC) representing New Brunswick.<ref name="bio" />
==Later life and death== In February 1992, Roussel retired to Cap-Pelé, where he worked full time as an artist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Claude P. Roussel Arts visuels |url=https://www.aaapnb.ca/fr/repertoire/artistes-membres/claude-p-roussel |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250602061242/https://www.aaapnb.ca/fr/repertoire/artistes-membres/claude-p-roussel |archive-date=June 2, 2025 |access-date=June 2, 2025 |website={{Ill|Acadian Association of Professional Artists of New Brunswick|fr|Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick}} |language=French}}</ref><ref name="Vergara" /> He died in Moncton on May 28, 2025, at the age of 94.<ref name="Vergara">{{cite news |last1=Vergara |first1=Jimena |date=May 29, 2025 |title=Claude Roussel, pionnier des arts visuels en Acadie, n'est plus |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1863972/claude-roussel-mort-acadie-arts-sculptures-edmundston-moncton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250530152245/https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1863972/claude-roussel-mort-acadie-arts-sculptures-edmundston-moncton |archive-date=May 30, 2025 |access-date=May 30, 2025 |language=French |agency=Radio-Canada}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mousseau |first=Sylvie |date=May 29, 2025 |title=Le pionnier de l'art moderne en Acadie, Claude Roussel, s'éteint à l'âge de 94 ans |url=https://www.acadienouvelle.com/arts-et-spectacles/2025/05/29/le-pionnier-de-lart-moderne-en-acadie-claude-roussel-seteint-a-lage-de-94-ans/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250530152506/https://www.acadienouvelle.com/arts-et-spectacles/2025/05/29/le-pionnier-de-lart-moderne-en-acadie-claude-roussel-seteint-a-lage-de-94-ans/ |archive-date=May 30, 2025 |access-date=May 30, 2025 |website=L'Acadie Nouvelle |language=French}}</ref>
==Notable artwork== Roussel's work has been exhibited at more than 200 solo and group shows in Canada and internationally. His artworks are found in many countries but especially in Canada's eastern provinces.<ref name="bio" /> Roussel created more than 60 monumental and public art sculptures, twelve of which are listed below.<ref name=gallery/>
* Beavers, 1959, limestone, Officer's Square, Fredericton, New Brunswick (presented to Lord Beaverbrook by the Government of New Brunswick on the occasion of his 80th birthday) * {{Ill|Escuminac Disaster Monument|fr|Monument du Désastre d'Escuminac}}, 1959–1969, limestone, Escuminac Disaster Monument Provincial Historic Site, New Brunswick * Éros, 1971, welded Corten steel, Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick * Progression, 1972, fiberglass, Saint John City Hall * Atlantic, 1976, steel and epoxy, Summer Olympic Games XXI, City of Kingston, Ontario * Brûlez et détruisez tout, 1986, polyester paste, Grand-Pré National Historic Site, Nova Scotia * Dina Bolts, 1988, XXIV Summer Olympic Sculpture Garden, Seoul, South Korea<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dina Bolts (디나볼즈) – Olympic Park – Seoul, Korea |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMD6AP_Dina_Bolts_46356452084838051592_Olympic_Park__Seoul_Korea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121034250/https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMD6AP_Dina_Bolts_46356452084838051592_Olympic_Park__Seoul_Korea |archive-date=January 21, 2025 |access-date=March 13, 2018 |website=Waymarking}}</ref> * Monument Père Clément-Cormier, 1990, bronze casting, Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick * Moncton 100 Monument, 1990, bronze, steel and granite, Moncton, New Brunswick * Transition 2000, 1999, welded brass and copper, UNI Financial Cooperation, Moncton, New Brunswick * Monument Mère Marie Léonie, 2004, bronze casting, Memramcook, New Brunswick * Inspire-Action, 2017, welded steel, City of Dieppe, New Brunswick
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="180"> File:Escuminac Disaster Monument.JPG|Escuminac Disaster Monument, 1959–1969 (close-up) File:Joseph Salter - Resurgo - by Claude Roussel.jpg|Moncton 100 Monument, 1990 File:Escuminac Disaster Memorial.JPG|Escuminac Disaster Monument, 1959–1969 File:Roussel Eros 1971.jpg|Éros, 1971 </gallery>
==Awards and honours== *1964: Allied Arts Medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada *1967: Centennial Medal *1972: Knight of the Order of La Pléiade *1976: Symposium Olympique *1977: Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal *1982: Medal of the Order of the Pléiade *1984: Order of Canada *1989: First Prize of the Marion McCain exhibit, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton *1992: 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal *2002: Order of New Brunswick<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=September 28, 2010 |title=Complete List of Recipients |url=https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/corporate/promo/order_of_new_brunswick/complete_list_ofrecipients.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119125821/https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/corporate/promo/order_of_new_brunswick/complete_list_ofrecipients.html |archive-date=January 19, 2025 |access-date=March 13, 2018 |website=Government of New Brunswick}}</ref> *2005: Lieutenant-Governor's Award for High Achievement in the Arts *Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2024 |title=Members Directory: Members in Good Standing 2023 |url=https://rca-arc.ca/s/MEMBERS-IN-GOOD-STANDING-MARCH-21-2024-_-MEMBRES-EN-REGLE-21-MARS-2024.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420134735/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab673acaf2096105eaa2f14/t/65fc2e6bb8e03314598476fe/1711025771435/MEMBERS+IN+GOOD+STANDING+MARCH+21+2024+_+MEMBRES+EN+RE%CC%80GLE+21+MARS+2024.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2024 |access-date=June 2, 2025 |website=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts |page=4 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading== * Chiasson, Herménégilde; Laurette, Patrick Condon (1987) [1985]. ''Claude Roussel: sculptor.'' Moncton, New Brunswick: {{Ill|Éditions d'Acadie|fr}}. {{ISBN|2-7600-0115-6}} * {{Official website|https://www.clauderoussel.ca}} (in French) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250418164022/https://www.clauderoussel.ca/|date=April 18, 2025}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roussel, Claude}} Category:1930 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Artists from New Brunswick Category:Canadian sculptors Category:Canadian painters Category:Canadian educators Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Category:Members of the Order of New Brunswick Category:People from Edmundston Category:People from Moncton Category:École des beaux-arts de Montréal alumni