Le malheureux magnifique by Pierre Yves Angers is an iconic sculpture that stands (or crouches) at the entrance to Montreal’s Quartier latin. The artist built the imposing figure from steel covered by a layer of cement. Inspired by The Thinker and Rodin’s other sculptures, the piece remains one of Angers’ most arresting works.
Born in Montreal in 1949, Angers studied art at the Cégep du Vieux Montreal and exhibited work in Montreal and New York. He served as vice-president of the Conseil de la sculpture from 1988 to 1990. His work explores the form of the human body, as typified by his two public sculptures on display in Montreal: Le malheureux magnifique and Les clochards célestes.
Le malheureux magnifique was installed in Place Pasteur in 1973 after being chosen in a competition the previous year. The sculpture moved to its current location in front of the Alcide-Chaussée Building at the corner of Sherbrooke and Saint-Denis streets in 1991.
A description of the huddled figure at the Montreal Public Art Bureau reads: “The man, with his head resting on his knees and hands covering the nape of his neck, conveys the psychological state of a person who is the main character in a story to be told. The unity of the material, texture, and colour of the artwork serves to both challenge the viewer and highlight the emotional and evocative dimensions of the form.” The sculpture can be view as depicting someone who is socially isolated or sad.
In Angers’ statement that accompanied the sculpture, he focused on the viewer’s psychological state and not at the work itself: “À ceux qui regardent à l’intérieur d’eux-mêmes et franchissent ainsi les frontières du visible” (To those who look inside themselves and thus cross over the borders of the visible).
Location:
385 Sherbrooke St E. (corner of Sherbrooke and Saint-Denis)
Montreal, Quebec
H2X 3L1
