art heist or metal theft? iconic mother-and-child statue stolen in westmount
sculptor lea vivot said one of her bronze sculptures of that size would be worth “just under half-a-million dollars.”
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have you seen this statue? it was stolen from a westmount square on the night of nov. 27.
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city of westmount
call it the mystery of the stolen mother and child. montreal police are investigating after thieves made off with a 150-kilogram bronze statue from a public square last week.
the mother and the child, a tender depiction of a mother sitting on a bench holding her child, had been on loan to the city of westmount since april 2022.
the statue was taken from prince albert square, at sherbrooke st. and prince albert ave.
the work has been a local landmark for years, previously residing outside a downtown montreal building at 1434 sherbrooke st., near bishop st.
“i’m in shock — i feel like mother and child has been kidnapped,” lea vivot, the artist who created the statue, told the gazette thursday.
“every one of my sculptures is like my child. it takes nine months to make it. and even when your children get married and move away, they’re still your children.”
vivot, an internationally known sculptor famed for life-size works, said one of her sculptures of that size would be worth “just under half-a-million dollars.”
the mother-and-child statue has been targeted before.
about 25 years ago, montreal police captured would-be thieves red-handed as they were about to place it into a getaway vehicle, vivot said. passersby had alerted authorities.
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a similar thing happened in a new york city park years ago. robbers dismantled one of her works and were hauling it away when police intervened.
in toronto, another of her statues was stolen from outside a home in 2020.
in the latest case, the artwork was stolen on the night of nov. 27, the city of westmount said on its website.
the entire piece weighed about 250 kilograms, vivot said.
the mother-and-child portion of the statue, which was bolted and welded in place, weighed about 150 kilograms, vivot said
the thieves left behind the bench. westmount later removed it and put it in storage, fearing the culprits would return and finish the job.
artist lea vivot, sitting on the left, visits the statue she created – the mother and the child – after it was installed in westmount’s prince albert square in 2022. standing are claudine levy, the owner of the statue, and westmount mayor christina smith. the other seated people are levy’s children, samuel el-kaim and frédérique el-kaim.
“it’s possible the statue was stolen so the metal could be resold,” but investigators are still gathering evidence, said montreal police spokesperson sabrina gauthier.
she could not say whether video surveillance cameras captured the heist.
vivot said she hoped the theft was motivated by the artwork’s value rather than the metal.
“the bronze if they melted down would be worth maybe $10,000 to $15,000,” she said.
the statue holds great sentimental value for its owner, claudine levy, vivot said.
levy is “depressed, she’s sad and she’s shocked. she remembers the day that her husband gave it to her.”
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levy was pregnant with her daughter when her husband bought it, she added.
“the statue has been with us forever,” levy’s son, samuel el-kaim, said in an interview. “to our family, it has always represented my mom and my sister.”
for many montrealers, the statue was a source of warmth and inspiration, vivot said.
“so many people touched the statue and took photos with it. so many people took something from it — some of the warmth that my hands created. it cheered them up, it made them feel good,” she said.
“i try to portray what is important in life. it’s our family, that’s the most important thing.”
vivot said she hoped a gazette article about the theft would prompt someone to come forward with information about the sculpture’s whereabouts.
“i would appeal to whoever took it: please give it back,” she said. “you won’t be charged, just give it back.”
born in czechoslovakia, vivot now lives north of toronto.
she called montreal home for several years. vivot said she left in 2000 after the death of former prime minister pierre trudeau, her friend and neighbour.
“it was just too sad for me,” she said of living in montreal after trudeau’s death.
montreal is home to two other vivot sculptures: lover’s bench in the botanical garden and secret bench on mcgill-college ave.
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the city of westmount is asking anyone with information about the theft to contact police station 12 at 514-280-0112.
secret bench, a work by sculptor lea vivot, is shown on mcgill-college ave. in 2005.
gordon beck
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montreal gazette
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