He was born in Toulon. His father, Jean Aicard, was a journalist of some distinction, and the son early began his career in 1867 with Les Jeunes Croyances, followed in 1870 by a one-act play produced at the Marseille theatre.
His poems include: Les Rebellions et les apaisements (1871); Poèmes de Provence (1874), and La Chanson de l'enfant (1876), both of which were crowned by the Academy; Miette et Noré (1880), a Provencal idyll; Le Livre d'heures de l'amour (1887); Jésus (1896). Of his plays the most successful was Le Père Lebonnard (1890), which was originally produced at the Théâtre Libre. Among his other works are the novels, Le Roi de Camargue (1890), L'Ame d'un enfant (1898) and Tata (1901), Benjamine (1906) and La Vénus de Milo (1874); an account of the discovery of the statue from unpublished documents.
He was elected a member of the Académie française in 1909.