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Léo B. LeBlanc (1914 – 1986)
Acadian Léo B. LeBlanc had a short, but prolific career. He came to painting late in life, having spent most of his career as a farmer in the Cocagne River area of his native Acadie, a French-speaking region of New Brunswick. LeBlanc sought to document a way of life, the land and people as remembered by him, for the benefit of future generations. He is best known as a "naïf painter,” for his scenes of daily life, often set under the great Cocagne sky and painted with a disarming simplicity.

LeBlanc’s work is held in many important private collections. LeBlanc had the curious habit of documenting the owners of his works on the backs of paintings. Amongst those names were notable figures such as Pierre-Elliott Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, Richard Hatfield, former Premier of New Brunswick, and internationally acclaimed Acadian author Antonine Maillet. LeBlanc’s hand-made book, Au pays de Cocagne, winner of the National Artists’ Book Competition of Canada, is held at the National Library of Canada.