Emanuel Hahn
Encyclopedia
Emanuel Otto Hahn was a German
-born Canadian
sculptor and coin
designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood
. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada
.
, Baden-Württemberg
, Germany
and moved to Toronto
in 1888 with his family. He studied modelling and commercial design at the Toronto Technical School
and Ontario College of Art as well as Industrial Design
from 1899-1903. In 1901, he was hired by the McIntosh Marble and Granite Company where he created the bronze reliefs on various monuments. Hahn then went on to study in Stuttgart, Germany in 1903, he pursued art and design at the local school of art and design and the Polytechnical School, and briefly apprenticed in the studio of a sculptor teaching at the academy.
From 1908 to 1912 Hahn was a studio assistant to sculptor Walter Seymour Allward
, helping in the construction of Allward's South African War Memorial
the Alexander Graham Bell Telephone Memorial
of Brantford and the Baldwin-Lafontaine Monument on Parliament Hill
in Ottawa
, Ontario. In 1912 he was hired as a modeling instructor at the Ontario College of Art, ultimately heading the sculpture department until his retirement in 1951.
in 1926, a former student of his. The couple had one daughter. They resided at 159 Glen Road, Toronto, Ontario.
Hahn gained notoriety for his war memorial designs as communities sought to honour their veterans with cenotaphs and sculptures. He designed a monument on the theme of a realistic soldier figure "going over the top" in Saint-Lambert, Québec
and a meditating figure of Tommy in his Greatcoat in Lindsay, Ontario
.
Emmanual Hahn sculpted the figure of a young Canadian soldier that surmounts the Gaspé War Memorial (1921) in Gaspé, Quebec
. Hahn's winning proposal for the city of Winnipeg's
war memorial caused a national controversy when the sculptor's German ancestry was discovered in 1925. Hahn was forced to rescind the commission, although he was able to keep the prize money. Controversy erupted again when the competition was reopened and his wife Elizabeth Wyn Wood
won the contact for the memorial. Critics condemned Wood for using her maiden name and accused her of copying her husbands design. She was also forced to cancel the contract and the memorial was awarded to the third-place competition winner.
However this did not hurt Hahn’s career as he received wide press coverage, some of which condemned the city of Winnipeg as Hahn was a naturalized Canadian citizen. The following year he was awarded the contract for the Edward Hanlan monument, erected on the Canadian National Exhibition
grounds and later moved to the Toronto Islands
. In 1929 he won the competition for a memorial to Sir Adam Beck, his most important and largest monumental project, unveiled in 1934 on University Avenue
, Toronto.
Hahn was a member of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
and served as the first President of the Sculptors' Society of Canada
, which he established with Frances Loring, Florence Wyle
and Elizabeth Wyn Wood
in 1928. The sculptor's society allowed Hahn to exhibit smaller sculptures independently of museums and galleries.
The Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque for the South African War Memorial erroneously states that Walter Seymour Allward
studied under Emanuel Hahn, when in fact it was the other way around.
James Saull, who constructed the Oak Bay, British Columbia
Cenotaph in 1948, studied under Emanuel Hahn.
design, which depicts a fur-trapper (coureur des bois
) from the Hudson's Bay Company
and an Inuit
in a canoe
with the Northern Lights (aurora (astronomy)
), the famous Nova Scotia
n racing schooner Bluenose
on the 10c. coin, the caribou
's head on the 25c. coin, and the Canadian Parliament Buildings reverse of the 1939 Royal Visit silver
$1 coin.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
sculptor and coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood was a Canadian sculptor, born in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Wood studied sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and at the Art Students League of New York...
. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada
Sculptors' Society of Canada
The Sculptors Society of Canada promotes and exhibits contemporary Canadian sculpture.Founded by Canadian sculptors Frances Loring, Florence Wyle, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Wood's teacher and husband Emanuel Hahn, Henri Hébert and Alfred Laliberté, the Sculptors Society of Canada has been exhibiting...
.
Education and training
Hahn was born in ReutlingenReutlingen
Reutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1888 with his family. He studied modelling and commercial design at the Toronto Technical School
Central Technical School
Central Technical School is a composite high school located at 725 Bathurst Street at Harbord Street in Toronto, Canada.C.T.S. offers a wide range of programs, including all core academic courses, as well as concentration and specialization in visual arts and technical studies. C.T.S...
and Ontario College of Art as well as Industrial Design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
from 1899-1903. In 1901, he was hired by the McIntosh Marble and Granite Company where he created the bronze reliefs on various monuments. Hahn then went on to study in Stuttgart, Germany in 1903, he pursued art and design at the local school of art and design and the Polytechnical School, and briefly apprenticed in the studio of a sculptor teaching at the academy.
From 1908 to 1912 Hahn was a studio assistant to sculptor Walter Seymour Allward
Walter Seymour Allward
Walter Seymour Allward was a Canadian monumental sculptor.- Early life :Allward was born in Toronto, the son of John A. Allward of Newfoundland. Educated in Toronto public schools, his first job was at the age of 14 as an assistant to his carpenter father...
, helping in the construction of Allward's South African War Memorial
South African War Memorial (Toronto)
The South African War Memorial is a memorial located at University Avenue and Queen Street West in Toronto.Commissioned in 1910, largely as the result of the efforts of James Mason, and designed by Walter Seymour Allward to commemorate Canada's participation in the Boer War, it consists of three...
the Alexander Graham Bell Telephone Memorial
Bell Telephone Memorial
The Bell Telephone Memorial is a monument commemorating the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1874 at his parent's home in Brantford, Ontario.- History :...
of Brantford and the Baldwin-Lafontaine Monument on Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario. In 1912 he was hired as a modeling instructor at the Ontario College of Art, ultimately heading the sculpture department until his retirement in 1951.
Private life
Hahn married Elizabeth Wyn WoodElizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood was a Canadian sculptor, born in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Wood studied sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and at the Art Students League of New York...
in 1926, a former student of his. The couple had one daughter. They resided at 159 Glen Road, Toronto, Ontario.
Career and official commissions
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Hahn gained notoriety for his war memorial designs as communities sought to honour their veterans with cenotaphs and sculptures. He designed a monument on the theme of a realistic soldier figure "going over the top" in Saint-Lambert, Québec
Saint-Lambert, Quebec
Saint-Lambert is a Canadian city in the province of Quebec located opposite Montreal on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Saint-Lambert was named for either the early French Canadian hunter Lambert Closse or for Roman Catholic Bishop Lambert of Maastricht...
and a meditating figure of Tommy in his Greatcoat in Lindsay, Ontario
Lindsay, Ontario
Lindsay is a community of 19,361 people on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough...
.
Emmanual Hahn sculpted the figure of a young Canadian soldier that surmounts the Gaspé War Memorial (1921) in Gaspé, Quebec
Gaspé, Quebec
Gaspé is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec, Canada. As of the 2006 census, the city had a total population of 14,819....
. Hahn's winning proposal for the city of Winnipeg's
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
war memorial caused a national controversy when the sculptor's German ancestry was discovered in 1925. Hahn was forced to rescind the commission, although he was able to keep the prize money. Controversy erupted again when the competition was reopened and his wife Elizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood was a Canadian sculptor, born in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Wood studied sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and at the Art Students League of New York...
won the contact for the memorial. Critics condemned Wood for using her maiden name and accused her of copying her husbands design. She was also forced to cancel the contract and the memorial was awarded to the third-place competition winner.
However this did not hurt Hahn’s career as he received wide press coverage, some of which condemned the city of Winnipeg as Hahn was a naturalized Canadian citizen. The following year he was awarded the contract for the Edward Hanlan monument, erected on the Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition , also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day Monday. With an attendance of approximately 1.3 million visitors each season, it is Canada’s largest...
grounds and later moved to the Toronto Islands
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...
. In 1929 he won the competition for a memorial to Sir Adam Beck, his most important and largest monumental project, unveiled in 1934 on University Avenue
University Avenue (Toronto)
University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...
, Toronto.
Hahn was a member of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto is a private club in Toronto, Ontario which brings together writers, architects, musicians, painters, graphic artists, actors, and others working in or with a love of the arts....
and served as the first President of the Sculptors' Society of Canada
Sculptors' Society of Canada
The Sculptors Society of Canada promotes and exhibits contemporary Canadian sculpture.Founded by Canadian sculptors Frances Loring, Florence Wyle, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Wood's teacher and husband Emanuel Hahn, Henri Hébert and Alfred Laliberté, the Sculptors Society of Canada has been exhibiting...
, which he established with Frances Loring, Florence Wyle
Florence Wyle
Florence Wyle was an American-born Canadian sculptor and designer. She practiced chiefly in Toronto, living and working with her partner sculptor Frances Loring...
and Elizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood
Elizabeth Wyn Wood was a Canadian sculptor, born in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Wood studied sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and at the Art Students League of New York...
in 1928. The sculptor's society allowed Hahn to exhibit smaller sculptures independently of museums and galleries.
The Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque for the South African War Memorial erroneously states that Walter Seymour Allward
Walter Seymour Allward
Walter Seymour Allward was a Canadian monumental sculptor.- Early life :Allward was born in Toronto, the son of John A. Allward of Newfoundland. Educated in Toronto public schools, his first job was at the age of 14 as an assistant to his carpenter father...
studied under Emanuel Hahn, when in fact it was the other way around.
James Saull, who constructed the Oak Bay, British Columbia
Oak Bay, British Columbia
Oak Bay is a municipality located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian Province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Capital Regional District, it is a community east of and adjacent to the City of Victoria...
Cenotaph in 1948, studied under Emanuel Hahn.
Coin design
Among the coins of Canada, Hahn designed the famous Voyageur DollarVoyageur Dollar
The Voyageur Dollar was a coin of Canada struck for circulation in silver from 1935 to 1966, and as a commemorative in 2003. A nickel version was struck from 1968 to 1987. In 1987, the coin was replaced by the loonie. The coin remains legal tender....
design, which depicts a fur-trapper (coureur des bois
Coureur des bois
A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....
) from the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
and an Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
in a canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
with the Northern Lights (aurora (astronomy)
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
), the famous Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
n racing schooner Bluenose
Bluenose
Bluenose was a Canadian fishing and racing schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921. She was later commemorated by a replica Bluenose II built in 1963. A celebrated racing ship and hard-working fishing vessel, Bluenose became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia as well as important Canadian symbol in...
on the 10c. coin, the caribou
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
's head on the 25c. coin, and the Canadian Parliament Buildings reverse of the 1939 Royal Visit silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
$1 coin.
Portraits by other artists
Hahn was the subject of a larger than life-size bust authorized and sculpted by his former student Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook titled "Head of Emanuel Hahn" and measured 22" height. The sculpture was purchased by the National Gallery of Canada in 1962 and placed into their Permanent Collection. Note: only one bronze bust was ever created and one plaster the latter which is in a private collection.External links
- Emanuel Hahn at The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- Emanuel Hahn's Artist's Gallery at the National Gallery of CanadaNational Gallery of CanadaThe National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
.