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Embarcadero Center: The Vaillancourt Fountain

Posted in Art, Sculpture

Between the Ferry Building and the end of Market Street in San Francisco sit an unusual fountain. It is locally known as the “Vaillancourt Fountain” but the sculptor, Armand Vaillancourt, named it “Québec libre!” on the night before the inauguration day of the fountain in 1971. Armand Vaillancourt is a French sculptor, painter and performance artist born on September 3, 1929 in the city of Black Lake, Quebec, Canada. “Québec libre!” which is in French and when translated to English mean “Free Quebec!”. Armand gave the sculpture such a name to show his support for the Quebec sovereignty movement and more largely, the support for the freedom of all people in Quebec.

This huge cubic fountain is 200 feet long, 140 feet wide and 36 feet high. It was closed for years for repair but was fully restored few years ago. Over the years the Vaillancourt Fountain received a number of names that was given by the public. They called it everything from “a giant monument to sanitary plumbing” to “a complete waste of money” to “a misrepresentation of art” to “a public fraud”.

The fountain had its most notorious moment in 1987: During a free outdoor concert by the band U2, lead singer Bono spray-painted “Rock and roll stops the traffic” on the fountain. His act was condemned by then mayor Dianne Feinstein and resulted in a citation for malicious mischief. Bono responded, “We’re the Batman and Robin of rock ‘n’ roll… I am an artist, and that was not an act of vandalism.” At a later concert, Bono invited Mr. Vaillancourt to spray-paint “Stop the madness!” onstage. Freedom of artistic expression aside, the act discouraged live concerts at the Embaradero for years afterward. :-)

Vaillancourt Fountain, Embarcadero Center, San Francisco.

the vaillancourt fountain1

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

the vaillancourt fountain2

Photo Credit: Eric in SF

the vaillancourt fountain3

Photo Credit: The West End

the vaillancourt fountain5

Photo Credit: The West End

the vaillancourt fountain6

Photo Credit: jcarbaugh

the vaillancourt fountain7

Photo Credit: The West End

the vaillancourt fountain8

Photo Credit: The West End

the vaillancourt fountain10

Photo Credit: iammeltron
8 Responses so far
  1. Dining Room Table on

    I suppose like and dislike are subjective and highly individualistic. For the world of it, I cannot bring myself to find any aesthetic sense in this work.

  2. Nicole Price on

    Hmmm, looks like a bunch of misaligned drainpipes to me, but then there is no accounting for what passes off as ‘art’, pickled animals for one (Damien Hirst) !

  3. mike on

    I kind of like the design. The scenery where it is at is also nice.

  4. michele on

    Try climbing on it and looking at different angles and juxtapositions. There are two staircases up and then there are “lily pads” across the water pool. Obviously the water flow has to be off for this to work. This is one of the favorite art pieces I’ve seen/interacted with. What’s wrong with Bono?

  5. @michele on

    1. Actually, the steps are just fine even when the water is on.
    2. Bono is a preening self-important nit. The “art” is better when the “artist” sticks to his or her medium. For neither Bono nor Vaillancourt is that medium the written or spoken word (or, for that matter, the shouting of simplistic political slogans with lots of important! exclamation! marks!).

  6. Paul Fiore on

    Holy Vietnam War MemUH-OOHHHrial Batman!!!! I’ve been telling my guests to my Rincon Center Apartment that this was a memorial to the vietnam war! It’s a) Unfinished… b) Costly c) wasteful d) seems to on forever, but go nowhere, and e) is FUGLY! And the whole time, it’s actually been for a whole different culture of people… French people, yearning to be English!

    I say we level this vietnam war memorial and put up a housing project for those Quebekians that wanna be liberals! (or is it liberATED?) Gosh Diggle Dee Dangles! When you live in the City of THE LEFT… it’s so hard to get anything RIGHT! Ahhhhh leave the darn thing. I’ve since moved to Anaheim anyway.

  7. Bill Ford on

    I was at both gigs, at the fountain and then the next night at the stadium in Oakland.
    Bono tried to explain is way out of it by saying that it was not vandalism. Because he was an artist, it was “additive art”.

    The heat got too much, so the band flew in the Vaillancourt for the gig in Oakland. They wanted him to paint “stop the madness” on the scrims hanging on each side of the stage (covering the PA system). They gave him a 5 gallon bucket of paint and a roller on a very long pole. While the band played, he painted “Stop” on one scrim, then moved over to the other side of the stage and painted “U2″ . Nice kick in the sack for Bono. I laughed so hard, and also lost all respect for Bono from that point forward for his trying to weasel out of the situation instead of just fessing up to being a pompous ass………..

  8. Oceania Vaillancourt on

    Thanks for sharing the lovely pictures of the fountain. This fountain represents the world to me since my mother met my father while he was buiding it. Quebec Libre Papa!!! Je T’aime Oceania

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