Notre Dame

Joseph Francis Plaskett, OC, RCA, was a Canadian painter and printmaker born in New Westminster, British Columbia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1939 and subsequently completed teacher training. He pursued formal artistic education at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) under B.C. Binning and Jack Shadbolt from 1940 to 1942. In 1946, Plaskett became the first recipient of the Emily Carr Scholarship, which allowed him to study at the San Francisco Art Institute under Hans Hofmann and Clyfford Still. He continued his studies in New York and later traveled to Europe, studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and with Fernand Léger in Paris.

In 1947, Plaskett returned briefly to Canada to serve as the Principal of the Banff School of Fine Arts (now the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity) for one year. He relocated to Paris in 1951, establishing a permanent home and studio in the Marais district, where he lived and worked for several decades. In 2001, he moved his primary residence to Suffolk, England, where he maintained his studio practice until his death.

Plaskett’s studio practice focused on figurative subjects, intimist interiors, still life compositions, and portraiture, working primarily in oil and pastel. His work emphasized light, color, spatial organization, and traditional draughtsmanship. In 1952, he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA). In 2001, he established the Joseph Plaskett Foundation (also known as the Plaskett Award) to provide an annual award supporting young Canadian painters traveling and studying in Europe.

In 2001, Plaskett was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) for his contributions to Canadian visual art. He continued painting until his death in Suffolk, England, in September 2014 at the age of ninety-six. His artwork is represented in permanent public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.