Name Alfred Laliberte | ||
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La vie d’une œuvre | Alfred Laliberté
Alfred Laliberte (19 May 1878 - 13 January 1953) was a Canadian sculptor and painter based in Montreal. His output includes more than 900 sculptures in bronze, marble, wood, and plaster. Many of his sculptures depict national figures and events in Canada and France such as Louis Hebert, Francois-Xavier-Antoine Labelle, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, and the Lower Canada Rebellion. Although he produced hundreds of paintings as well, he is chiefly remembered for his work as a sculptor.
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Life and career
Born in Sainte-Elisabeth-de-Warwick, Quebec in the district of Arthabaska, Laliberte was the son of Joseph Laliberte, a farmer, and Marie Richard. From an early age he began learning the agricultural trade and he initially intended on working in the family business. He began sculpting as a hobby at the age of 15. His work drew the attention of the Honourable Wilfrid Laurier who encouraged him to enter the Conseil des arts et manufactures (CAM) in Montreal. It was largely through Laurier's attention that Laliberte earned his father's approval to enter the CAM in 1896. In 1888 he won first prize at the Quebec City Provincial Exhibition for his life size sculpture of Laurier.
In 1902 Laliberte entered the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of 23. While there he became friends with his compatriot, the painter Marc-Aurele de Foy Suzor-Cote. He returned to Canada in 1907 where he began producing works that showed a marked influence of the sculptor Auguste Rodin.
In 1922 Laliberte joined the faculty of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montreal (now a part of the Universite du Quebec a Montreal). Alfred Laliberte cofounded the Sculptors Society of Canada in 1928 with Frances Loring, Florence Wyle, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Wood's teacher and husband Emanuel Hahn and Henri Hebert. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Between 1928 and 1932 he produced 215 small bronze sculptures depicting legends, customs and rural activities of the past and present history of the pioneers of Canada. On June 22, 1940, he married Jeanne Lavallee. He died in Montreal in 1953 and is buried in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery. He wrote three manuscripts about his life and works, Mes memoires, Reflexions sur l'art et l'artiste, and Les artistes de mon temps, all of which were published together in 1978 under the title Mes souvenirs. Gallery L'Art francais exhibited his works