Armand Filion graduated from the École des beaux-arts de Montréal (1927–31), which he entered when he was 17. When he was barely 21, he became a drawing teacher at the Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal. His encounter with French architect Dom Bellot was decisive, as it turned him toward sculpture. From 1942 to 1968, in addition to producing a number of religious sculpture projects and integrations with architecture, he taught at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, where he founded the sculpture department.
Artwork description
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.