O-8044

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painting (portrait)

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The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien

Portrait of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien

Jean Chrétien was born in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec in 1934, the 18th of 19 children, a number larger than every federal cabinet until 1912. He was a poor, tough kid, but completed law school and was elected to Commons for more than 30 years. He navigated a narrow victory for Canada in the 1995 referendum on sovereignty in Quebec, brought in the Canadian Firearms Registry, revamped the youth justice laws, introduced key environmental policies, and introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Christan Nicholson’s official portrait is unique in its monochrome, vibrant yellow background, which accentuates Chrétien as a tall, lean and cagey political scrapper.

Christan Nicholson

At the unveiling of Christan Nicholson’s official portrait of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 2010, Senate Speaker Noël Kinsella noted that Nicholson’s first portrait was of his own grandmother. This fondness for painting “everyday Canadians” is still a source of pride, says Nicholson, who was born in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1948 and still lives and works in the province. Over the decades he has completed portraits of many famous figures, including iconic writers Hugh MacLennan and Margaret Atwood. His portrait of Governor-General Romeo Leblanc was a Canadian postage stamp in 2010.