Sculpture
- often commissioned by governments
- most men with families could not afford to pursue sculpture as a serious career
- women sculptors were supported through marriage or by family money.
- public sculptures suffer from vandalism neglect or irrelevance.
- Canadian artists’ direct exposure to international sculpture had been interrupted by WWII
The National War Memorial
- commeorates Canad’as involvement in the war in which canada participated because of its ties to Great Britian
- not only were British and American sculptors often the recipients of commissions but it was figures of the ruling elite that continued to be represented.
- Frances Loring’s Queen Elizabeth Monument erected to commeorate the offical visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939.
War Memorials
- The Canadian War Memorials Fund project established to amass artworks documenting Canada’s contribution to World War I also included sculpture, notably figures of women armaments workers by Loring and Wyle.
- the preferred form for WWI memorials was that of solitary soldier in battle dress, carrying weapons like a martyr with his attributes and mourning the loss of his comrades.
- the collaborative spirit with which sculptors and architects worked together on the design of war memorials continued through 1930s and 1940s.
WALTER ALLWARD, VIMY MEMORIAL, FRANCE, 1922-36
- Most famous in France 1922-1936 designed by Canadian Architectt Walter Allward
- 2 Pylons symbolizes the two allied forces at Vimy Canada and France
- image appeared on posters designed to drum up support for the new world war.
- also featured on a 1968 stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the 1918 Armstice and 21st century on a medal for troops who died or injured overseas.
Walter Allward
- artist was born in Toronto
- said he was inspired by a dream
- on the memorial are the names of 11 00 Canadian soldiers who were never found and Canadians who died on the field of France.
- Allward’s optimistic Boer War monument stands in stark contrast to his later memorial designed in 1920-21 located in Vimy Ridge to commemorate the dead Canadians of WWI.
Allward 2
- Allward was the most successful designer
- Allward’s early apprenticeship in an architechtural firm qualified him to attend to every aspect of design himself, as in his war memorials at Stratford 1922 and Peterborough 1929 each with a pair of allegorical figures descriptive of abstract ideas associated with the war.
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CANADA BEREFT WALTER ALLWARD c.1925 - 30
- Canada mourning
- figure is female
- personification of Canada
Frances Loring
- along with Wyle known as The Girls dominated the scene
- showed one of the few bronzes in the exhibition along with several decorative objects and works in plaster for the AMT exhibit.
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FRANCES LORING, VICTORY, WAR MEMORIAL SCULPTURE, GALT, ONTARIO (UNVEILED 1930)
- War memorial
- Heroic figure of victory - other side of figure is peace
- figure of victory - male soldiers name carved on
- female figure - represents peace
Elizabeth Wyn wood
- one of the best teaching positions at the OCA
- member of the sculptors society of Canada
- sculpted interpretations of the Canadian landscape
- wood used materials new to sculpture in Canada: tin, aluminum and glass from the influence fo Contantin Brancusi.
ELIZABETH WYNWOOD, SERVICE AND SACRIFICE, WELLAND ONTARIO, 1939
- Last major war memorial in Canada
- contribution of women to the war
- Man represents service, men went to battle
- women went as nurses, women represent sacrifice - as they send their men to war sacrificing them
- women worked as welders, did what the workmen would’ve done
- emphasizes the contribution of women to the war effort
Anne Kahane
- Immigrant - Born in Vienna
- settled in Montreal
- studied @ York or in NY
- work received an award at international sculpture competition in London in 1953 for unknown prisoner
ANNE KAHANE (b. 1924), MONUMENT TO THE UNKNOWN POLITICAL PRISONER, 1953, METAL, WOOD PULP, WOOD MAQUETTE, 52 X 22.2 X 20 CM.
- sculpture - abstracted person
- treatment of prisoners
ANNE KAHANE, RAIN, 1958, WOOD, 84 X 53.5 X 26 CM.
ELZA MAYHEW (1916-2004)
- widowed during the war.
- lived in Tokyo with children
- back in Canada 1955
- most of her work is in Bronze
- represented British Columbia at the SSC display in Quebec city in 1960
ELZA MAYHEW CONCORDIA, 1967, BRONZE, 243.84 X 60.96 X 30.48 CM. (FIGURE 12.10)
ROBERT MURRAY
- one of Canada’s foremost abstract sculptors
- moved to new york city in 1960 after participated in Newmans 1969 workshop.
- influenced by Newman
- abstract work
- born in Vancouver living in the US r
- see large geometric forms in his paintings
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ROBERT MURRAY (b.1936), CUMBRIA, 1966-67, EPOXY PAINT ON STEEL, 427 X 914 X 457 CM. (FIGURE 15.3)
- large, relatively simple shapes, brightly painted
- yellow paint gives work a lightness and uniformity.
no figural references,
- outline of piece changes as viewers walk around it.
- seen as individually distinct but also as creating an active tension between part and whole.
Hugh Leroy
- York Professor
- studied w Arthur Lister in Montreal
- @ the Scott Library
- art is reflected in the winter
- # of large commissions
HUGH LEROY (b. 1939), RAINBOW PIECE, 1972, PAINTED FIBREGLASS, 2.64 X 8.75 X 6.39 M. (YORK UNIVERSITY)
TED BIELER (b. 1938), HELIX, 1971 (U. OF T. MEDICAL SCIENCE BUILDING)
very interested in geometric form
did a lot of sculptures for public places
TED BIELER, TOWER SONG, 1998,
CAST ALUMINUM, 25 FT.,
WINDSOR SCULPTURE GARDEN, WINDSOR, ONTARIO
JUDITH SCHWARZ, WEATHER SAMPLER, SPADINA STREET CAR STOP, 2011, STAINLESS STEEL SHEETS
Spadina TTC bus stop
YorkU visual arts professor
Sculptors Society of Canada (SCC) 1928
- Frances Loring, Florence Wyle Emanuel Hahn and Elizabeth Wynwood
- sought to improve their professional status and the public appreciaction of sculpture by forming a national association.
- 1948 SSC 21 canadian sculptors 10 quebec
- the art made by SSC members up to late 1950s generally showed an awareness of international currents
