Louis-Philippe Hébert, self-portrait, bronze
BIOGRAPHY
Louis-Philippe Hébert was born in Sainte-Sophie d’Halifax in 1850. He is the father of Adrien Hébert and Henri Hébert. He became the most prominent sculptor of his generation. Hébert began his training with eight years of study in the studio of Napoléon Bourassa in the 1870s. He also studied at the Council of Arts and Manufactures around 1873-1879. He taught at the Council of Arts and Manufactures in 1882-87 and 1895-98. He served in the Papal Zouaves in Rome and Tivoli in Italy in 1869-70. He travelled and lived in Paris between 1880 and 1914 with interruptions. He died in Montreal in 1917.
SUBJECT
In the spirit of Canadian nationalism that permeated the arts following Confederation, painters and sculptors like Louis-Philippe Hébert devoted their energies to depicting scenes from Canadian history - both real and imagined. His works include memorials to Maisonneuve in Montreal in 1895; Sir John A. Macdonald in Ottawa in 1895, Queen Victoria in Ottawa in 1901, Mgr Bourget in Montreal in 1903, Mgr de Laval in Quebec City in 1908.
TECHNIQUE/MEDIUM
He was the first sculptor of Quebec to work in bronze.
EXHIBITIONS
Hébert was commissioned to produce 10 large sculptures for the façade of the Legislative Buildings in Quebec City and can be seen today.
AWARDS
Hébert became Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (ARCA) in 1880 and 1905, Royal Canadian Artist (RCA) in 1886-89 and 1906. He won the Confederation Medal in 1894, became Knight of the Legion of Honour in France in 1901, Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1903, Knight of Gregory the Great in 1903.
Source: Anne Newlands, Canadian Art from its beginnings to 2000, Firefly Books, Canada, 2000, p. 142; Catalogue of the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian art, Vol. 2, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1994, p. 112
