THÉBERGE, Claude (1934-2008)

After graduating from the École des beaux-arts de Québec (1950-1954), Claude Théberge attended several art schools in Paris, including the École du Musée du Louvre. Upon returning to Quebec in 1961, he took teaching courses at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and studied design management at the École des Hautes Études de Montréal. In 1968, he founded a workshop devoted to the integration of art into architecture, which led him to produce murals for Montreal’s Papineau and Rosemont subway stations. He also completed an immense geometric mural entitled Reliefs for the Guy-Concordia station and later established a second workshop with artists Antoine Lamarche and Michel Dernuet. Both would collaborate with him in 1976 on major works for separate subway stations: Reliefs at De l’Église (with Lamarche), Un arbre dans le parc at Georges-Vanier (with Dernuet and Lamarche) and Reliefs at Verdun (with Lamarche). In 1985, he created a monumental sculpture for Viger Square in the Ville-Marie borough entitled Forces; also that year, he completed a mural for the main lobby of the Quebec Legislature. Théberge received numerous awards for his work, including first prize at an international competition held by the United Nations in 1954 and the 1966 Prix Arletty in Paris. At the 62nd Spring Salon in Clichy (France, 1990), he both served as guest of honour and went away with the gold medal. Throughout his career, he remained committed to supporting and working closely with young artists.