Breezy Blue Day

Clare Bice was born in Durham, Ontario in 1909. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history and English from the University of Western Ontario in 1928. From 1930 to 1932 he studied at the Art Students League of New York and the Grand Central School of Art in New York. His work featured figures and landscapes of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Western Ontario, France and England. He also wrote and illustrated 5 books for children and illustrated 6 books for writer Catherine Anthony Clark. He was director of the London (Ont.) Art Gallery from 1940 to 1972 (interrupted by war service 1942-46), was President of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts from 1967 to 1970, and was president of the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization 1966-68. In 1973 Clare Bice was made a Member of the Order of Canada "for his contribution to the fine arts as painter, author-illustrator and gallery director". He died while on a sketching trip to Newfoundland in 1976.