Armand Vaillancourt
(1929–)
Armand Vaillancourt
1929–
Armand Vaillancourt (1929–) is a Canadian sculptor, painter, and performance artist born in Black Lake, Quebec. He attended the École des beaux-arts in Montreal and his art is often political in nature, as he utilizes his work as a key part of his activism.
Vaillancourt, the sixteenth of seventeen children, has accredited growing up on a farm as what encouraged his love of nature and his hippy ideology. After the end of World War II, Vaillancourt travelled North America before attending the École des Beaux-Arts. His travels educated him about social injustice and became the basis of his activist and artistic work.
Vaillancourt is known for using found objects to create his sculptures as a means of representing the beauty in everything and everyday life. He is accredited with first using Styrofoam as a cast for bronze sculptures. Vaillancourt is also known for creating works in public spaces to advocate for inclusivity within the art world by demonstrating to viewers that creating art is achievable.
His most notable work, Vaillancourt Fountain from 1971, is a large public fountain at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, California. Vaillancourt Fountain is more commonly known as Québec Libre! as the artist himself inscribed the statement on the fountain in bright red the night before the unveiling. The statement refers to Vaillancourt’s support of Qeubec’s liberation movement. Disappointed to see that the city had removed Québec Libre! from the fountain at the unveiling, Vaillancourt hopped into the fountain to rewrite it. Vaillancourt Fountain has since become a symbol of freedom.
Along with the Quebec liberation movement, Vaillancourt’s art and activism also incorporates environmental issues and the social injustices faced by Indigenous communities.
In 1993 the Quebec government awarded Vaillancourt the Prix-Émile-Borduas, and in 2004 he received the title of Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec.