The family of sculptor Danielle Roux is suing the Cégep de Sainte-Foy for “illegally” destroying one of her works after “letting it deteriorate for decades.” Not only is she demanding more than $100,000 from the educational institution, but she also wants to force them to reconstruct the L’Oiseau sculpture identically.
Danielle Roux, described by her family as one of Quebec’s first sculptors to create monumental works, notably designed a monumental steel sculpture in 1967 that was placed in front of the main entrance of the Cégep de Sainte-Foy.
It remained there for many years before being moved to a vacant lot west of the building, where it remained abandoned and never ceased to deteriorate, according to people close to the artist.
destruction
Although various steps have been taken since 2016 with the Cégep de Sainte-Foy to order the restoration of the sculpture, in 2020 the institution proceeded to destroy it after dismantling and sawing it, as we have stated in the introductory application for “The procedure was filed” can read the Supreme Court on August 31st.
Danielle Roux died in 1981 at the age of 40. To enforce their copyright, Ms. Roux’s children and her surviving spouse, the director Richard Lavoie, decided to sue the Cégep de Sainte-Foy in the Supreme Court.
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Notably, Danielle Roux received the Lieutenant Governor’s Award and a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. (archive photo)
Photo: Source: Hans Krieber
They accuse him of allowing the sculpture to deteriorate and eventually be destroyed, even though a specialist in the restoration of works of art, Jérôme Morissette, had concluded that a restoration of L’Oiseau was certainly possible at a reasonable cost.
According to the plaintiffs, the Cégep de Sainte-Foy violated copyright law. Article 28.2 (1) of the Law stipulates that a violation of the right to integrity occurs if the work is distorted, mutilated or otherwise altered in a way that is detrimental to the honor or reputation of the author.
In addition, any deformation, mutilation or other alteration of a sculpture is considered harmful within the meaning of paragraph 1.
Moral rights
The defendant’s violation of moral rights causes irreparable harm to the family of the late Danielle Roux [est] now private[e] of the original of the work created by him forever due to the fault of the defendant, it is said in the statement of claim.
Ms. Roux’s heirs are asking the court to order the Cégep de Sainte-Foy to completely reconstruct the destroyed work and install the new sculpture on the property in front of the Albert Rousseau Hall, all at the defendant’s expense.
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The case recalls the destruction by the city of Quebec in 2015 of the work “Dialogue with History,” which was reconstructed and installed in the Parc de l’Amérique-Française in 2019. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Claudia Genel
They are also seeking $75,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages.
With their actions, Danielle Roux’s children and wife also want to draw attention to the blatant lack of maintenance of public works of art in Quebec.
Once these sculptures, bas-reliefs and other artistic creations are constructed, they are largely forgotten and left to the elements by a bureaucracy that does not know their fate, they denounce in a press release issued on Wednesday.
In collaboration with Yannick Bergeron