Aurelio Sandonato
Les promeneurs
1990
Presentation of the artwork
Installed at the top of a hill in Parc Saint-Laurent, Les promeneurs is an abstract sculpture composed of three pairs of rectangular columns made of red-painted steel. Each column has curved shapes carved out at its centre and the columns in each pair are of different heights.The artwork represents a group of three people – a man, a woman, and a child. The artist has created a simple abstraction, emphasizing the vertical, and the human form is easily recognized. The bright colour adds to the artwork’s monumentality and brings a playful aspect.
This vitality, this optimal use of the park by the population,
led me to want to integrate Les promeneurs, to mix it in with people.
– A. Sandonato
Associated events
The work was created during Sculpture: Séduction 90, an event that took place in 16 Montréal Urban Community parks from 15 June to 30 September 1990. Organized by the Conseil de la sculpture du Québec, its goal was to present “a permanent itinerary of large-format sculptures integrated with the environment of municipal parks.” 
Crédit photo: Alain Chassé, 2003
Aurelio Sandonato
Italian-born artist Aurelio Sandonato (1931–2012) moved to Montréal in 1951 and began his studies at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in 1956. For more than 30 years, he taught visual arts at CÉGEP de Saint-Laurent. Among the works that he produced for the public space are Sculpture murale (circa 1982), an imposing composition of terra cotta elements in the Du Collège Métro station. Sandonato’s art production was imbued with architectural concerns in which the relationship among the artwork, the viewer, and the site is at the heart of the offering.
Presentation of the artwork
Installed at the top of a hill in Parc Saint-Laurent, Les promeneurs is an abstract sculpture composed of three pairs of rectangular columns made of red-painted steel. Each column has curved shapes carved out at its centre and the columns in each pair are of different heights.The artwork represents a group of three people – a man, a woman, and a child. The artist has created a simple abstraction, emphasizing the vertical, and the human form is easily recognized. The bright colour adds to the artwork’s monumentality and brings a playful aspect.
This vitality, this optimal use of the park by the population,
led me to want to integrate Les promeneurs, to mix it in with people.
– A. Sandonato
Associated events
The work was created during Sculpture: Séduction 90, an event that took place in 16 Montréal Urban Community parks from 15 June to 30 September 1990. Organized by the Conseil de la sculpture du Québec, its goal was to present “a permanent itinerary of large-format sculptures integrated with the environment of municipal parks.”
Aurelio Sandonato
Italian-born artist Aurelio Sandonato (1931–2012) moved to Montréal in 1951 and began his studies at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in 1956. For more than 30 years, he taught visual arts at CÉGEP de Saint-Laurent. Among the works that he produced for the public space are Sculpture murale (circa 1982), an imposing composition of terra cotta elements in the Du Collège Métro station. Sandonato’s art production was imbued with architectural concerns in which the relationship among the artwork, the viewer, and the site is at the heart of the offering.
