by J-Claude Michaud
Famous Canadian Artist A.Y. Jackson and J-Claude Michaud have something in common. Less so the painting ability, more so an amazing discovery 100 years in the making.
On a recent trip to a friend’s art gallery in Toronto, I came across a small A.Y. Jackson panel that instantly attracted me. It had been painted in Cacouna, Quebec in 1921 and featured a local house.
I have always been drawn to Jackson’s paintings of the St Lawrence south shore, especially those near my hometown of Saint-Pascal (where many of us Michauds grew up) of which Cacouna is only a few miles away. So, I decided I had to try and find the house that was the model for Jackson all those years ago. After returning from Toronto, I went directly to Cacouna but had no success finding the house in the painting.
A few days later while in a local store, I came across a book on Cacouna and amazingly there was a photo of the house and it was referred to as “The Michaud Ancestral Home” What a discovery! I went directly to the address finding it impossible to believe that A.Y. Jackson had painted the Michaud family’s ancestral home. The reason I hadn’t discovered it on my first trip was the mature trees that had grown to partially cover the front entrance.
As an appraiser with the Canadian Association of Personal Property Appraisers I am constantly asked what something is worth. This connection between my family and A.Y. Jackson is priceless to me. Now, it’s time to understand the connections between the Michauds of Cacouna and my family of Saint-Pascal.
It’s a small world after all.