Armand Filion
Les baigneurs
Presentation of the artwork
The bas-relief sculpture Les Baigneurs welcomes visitors to the Gadbois sports complex on the right of the south main entrance. As the title indicates, the sculpture portrays an intermingled group people diving toward a source of water, expressed abstractly by an undulation. The body masses seemed to be shaped like drops of water. The work illustrates one of the activities offered within the building, indicating its sports vocation.Armand Filion sculpted the work by direct carving. The simplified, geometric forms thus do away with all references to naturalism. The style developed by Filion over his career is that of Quebec modern art. Similar male figures are also found in a work adorning the north entry to the Maurice-Richard Arena, produced in 1960.
Associated events
The work was integrated with the architecture of the Gadbois sports centre when it was built, in the late 1950s, by the Larose & Larose architectural firm.
Crédit photo: Guy L'Heureux, 2015
Armand Filion
Armand Filion graduated from the École des beaux-arts de Montréal (1927–31), where he began studying when he was 17 years old. Barely 21, he became a drawing teacher at the Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal. His meeting with French architect Dom Bellot was life-changing, as Bellot piqued his interest in sculpture. From 1942 to 1968, in addition to producing a number of religious sculptures and integration with architecture projects, he taught at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, where he founded the sculpture section.
Awards and honours
- Grand Prix de sculpture aux concours artistiques de la province , 1959
- Première Médaille de l'Institut royale d’architecture du Canada, 1953
- Deuxième Grand Prix de sculpture aux concours artistiques de la province, 1953
Presentation of the artwork
The bas-relief sculpture Les Baigneurs welcomes visitors to the Gadbois sports complex on the right of the south main entrance. As the title indicates, the sculpture portrays an intermingled group people diving toward a source of water, expressed abstractly by an undulation. The body masses seemed to be shaped like drops of water. The work illustrates one of the activities offered within the building, indicating its sports vocation.Armand Filion sculpted the work by direct carving. The simplified, geometric forms thus do away with all references to naturalism. The style developed by Filion over his career is that of Quebec modern art. Similar male figures are also found in a work adorning the north entry to the Maurice-Richard Arena, produced in 1960.
Associated events
The work was integrated with the architecture of the Gadbois sports centre when it was built, in the late 1950s, by the Larose & Larose architectural firm.
Armand Filion
Armand Filion graduated from the École des beaux-arts de Montréal (1927–31), where he began studying when he was 17 years old. Barely 21, he became a drawing teacher at the Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal. His meeting with French architect Dom Bellot was life-changing, as Bellot piqued his interest in sculpture. From 1942 to 1968, in addition to producing a number of religious sculptures and integration with architecture projects, he taught at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, where he founded the sculpture section.
Awards and honours
- Grand Prix de sculpture aux concours artistiques de la province , 1959
- Première Médaille de l'Institut royale d’architecture du Canada, 1953
- Deuxième Grand Prix de sculpture aux concours artistiques de la province, 1953
