Charles Daudelin (October 1, 1920 – April 2, 2001) was a Canadian artist who was a pioneer in modern sculpture and painting. He worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, metal and ceramic sculpture, jewelry, and marionettes which he made with his wife, Louise.
Life and work
Charles Daudelin was born on October 1, 1920, in Granby, Quebec. In 1939, he moved to Montreal, where he worked for the silversmith Gilles Beaugrand, a childhood friend of Paul-Émile Borduas. In May 1943, he and 22 other artists under the age of thirty, including several students of Borduas at the École du Meuble, took part in the Sagittarius exhibition at the Dominion Gallery, organized by Maurice Gagnon, professor at the École du Meuble, and which would constitute a milestone in the history of the Automatistes. Daudelin exhibited several works there, including sculptures. In September 1943, in Granby, Daudelin's first solo exhibition took place, also organized by Maurice Gagnon. including:
thumbnail|Allegrocube (1973)
- Polypède (1967), McGill University, Montreal
- Embâcle (1984), Place du Québec, Paris;
- aluminum joints at Mont-Royal station and large sculptural grilles at Langelier station in the Montreal metro. the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Daudelin lived in Kirkland, Quebec, and died in nearby Pointe-Claire, Quebec. His last work, Le Passage du 2 avril, is named for the date of his death and installed in front of Kirkland City Hall.
A postage stamp depicting Daudelin's work Embâcle was issued by Canada Post on June 10, 2002.
Daudelin's Kirkland home, which had been designated a protected heritage site by Quebec's Ministry of Culture and Communications in 2023, burned down on December 29, 2024.
Honours
- Second prize, Concours artistiques du Québec for painting (1946) and sculpture (1964, 1969)
- Prix Philippe-Hébert from the St-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montréal (1981)
- Academy of Great Montrealers in the Cultural category (1994)
Images
<gallery>
image:charles-daudelin.jpg|Sculptural grille, at Langelier metro station in Montreal
image:Québec, Gare du Palais5.jpg|Éclatement II, fountain in front of the Gare du Palais, in Quebec City
image:Charles Daudelin-Circuit 5, 1994.JPG|Circuit 5, 1994, ink on paper, 127 x 98 cm.
image:Charles_Daudelin-La_Brousse,_1954-1958.jpg |La Brousse, 1954–1958, oil on hardboard, 142 x 106 cm.
</gallery>
Controversy
In 2015, it was announced that Daudelin's public art piece, Agora in Viger Square, which had been meant to mimic the gardens of Greek antiquity, would be replaced with a minimalist park. However, in 2016, the makeover stalled since the Square sits on top of Ville-Marie Expressway, which is provincial jurisdiction. Work began on the area of the square referred to as the îlot Daudelin, and many of the concrete structures there, created by Charles Daudelin, were demolished. Others were restored and there were plans for better lighting and new drainage and sewer systems. As of 2019, the redevelopment was due to be completed in 2021 with a cost of 63.2 million, almost double the initial amount.