'Acadian history is a mess': With his paintings, Mario Doucette is questioning what he was taught

Mario Doucette is a visual artist from Moncton, N.B., with a passion for depicting Acadian history in his paintings. An Acadian himself, he became fascinated with the past after comparing his own research with what he had once learned in school. There was a lot of misinformation and propaganda, he says. Although he acknowledges that education about Acadian history has improved since he was in school, he believes there is still a lot to be uncovered and debated. For example, could the deportation of Acadians from what is now the Maritime provinces be considered an act of ethnic cleansing or genocide?

Some of Doucette's earlier work was done in what he calls a naive style — drawings on wood, mixed media, often with elements of fantasy and drama. With his recent work, he has turned to history painting — a genre that was popular from the 15th century through the 19th century. "[It's] art history, but reinterpreting [it] as it pertains to Canada or Acadian history," he says. The series he's working on stems from the hypothesis that history is a lie that is rarely questioned. His paintings challenge not only our understanding of history, but also how that history has been depicted by artists.

"Often artists were obligated to convey an official message — sometimes largely tainted by propaganda — thus evoking an incomplete version of the facts," says Doucette. "This is certainly the case of the artists who have represented the history of the Acadians in Canada."

Doucette cites the poem Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Since its publication in the 19th century, many artists have been inspired to illustrate Longfellow's historical narrative. But Doucette says although many of the works seem largely favourable to the Acadian cause, "it leaves no doubt as to the conquerors' overwhelming force as well as the fate of the Acadians who were to be deported. In most cases, these European and American artists have largely ignored any violent resistance on the part of the Acadians, not to mention the role of the Mi'kmaq and other [Indigenous people]."

In his own work, Doucette says his goal is to expose the romanticism of Longfellow's poem and to legitimize the heroes of the resistance, such as Joseph Beausoleil Brossard and Charles Deschamps de Boishébert.

Currently, he is hard at work on two large paintings. The first will depict the Acadians of Nova Scotia from the British perspective; the second, from the French perspective. "It's interesting to read one event written by two different historians — they're completely opposite to each other in terms of perception," he says. "There's a real narrative, but we don't know because we have the victor's version of it and very little of the vanquished."

Creating a history painting can be gruelling work. Doucette's process begins with research: reading, getting on the phone with historians and writing countless emails. After that, he finds models and costumes if they are needed, searches for locations, takes photos and works on preparatory drawings. Once he feels ready, he starts to paint. He says creating a painting in this style can take up to a year to complete, sometimes even longer. 

In this video by filmmakers Matt Brown and James MacDonald, we meet Doucette as he works on his new paintings. Part artist, part historian, he tells the story of the Great Expulsion, and walks us through what it means — and has meant — to be considered a history painter. He shares what he finds most interesting about researching and why he continues to use the genre as a source of inspiration.

"I think researching history is the fun I have doing artwork," Doucette says. "I think it's always a mystery. It's like a puzzle trying to fit pieces together...I was only going to do maybe two years of history painting and then I would move on. But it's over 13 or 14 years now. I keep finding stuff that still intrigues me."