Walter Seymour Allward

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Walter Seymour Allward

Walter Seymour Allward (November 18, 1876 - April 24, 1955) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
sculptor

Sculpture

Sculpture is Three-dimensional space artwork created by shaping or combining hard and or plastic material, sound, and or text and or light, commonly Stone sculpture , metal, glass, or wood....
.

He was born in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
, 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.

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Encyclopedia

Walter Seymour Allward (November 18, 1876 - April 24, 1955) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
sculptor

Sculpture

Toronto

Ontario

Technical drawing

File:Drafter at work.jpgFile:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F038800-0010, Wolfsburg, VW Autowerk.jpgTechnical drawing is the discipline of creating Standardization technology drawing by architects, CAD drafters, design engineers, and related professionals....
for an architectural firm, then modeled terra cotta decorative panels for the Don Valley Brick Company. There he showed skill in clay mold making. Allward would next become an apprentice to a firm of architects; however, he had no interest in contracts or specifications. So he began to copy the drawings of Michelangelo. After experimenting with painting he moved to sculpture.

Commissions

His first commission was to create a monument in Toronto for the men who fought in the North-West Rebellion

North-West Rebellion

The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful Rebellion by the M?tis people people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada, which they believed had failed to address their concerns for the survival of their people....
. This work would lead to other commissions such as the bronze figure of Sir Oliver Mowat

Oliver Mowat

Sir Oliver Mowat, Order of St. Michael and St. George, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Queen's Counsel was a Canada politician, and List of Ontario premiers from 1872 to 1896, making him the longest serving premier of that province and the 3rd longest in all of Canadian history....
. The 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 and designed by Walter Seymour Allward to commemorate Canada's participation in the Second Boer War, it consists of three bronze figures at the base of a granite column....
on University Avenue in Toronto is another commission that Allward won. He would also create a memorial to Robert Baldwin

Robert Baldwin

Robert Baldwin was born at York . He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, led the first responsible government ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government....
and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine , 1st Baronet was the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada....
that was placed on Parliament Hill. The Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine monument is known as the whispering wall for it's acoustic effect of naturally amplifying the sound of those at the ends of the monument. Allward is also the creator of the Truth (illustration, left) and Justice standing outside the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the supreme court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal Appeal, and its decisions are stare decisis, binding upon all lower courts of...
in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the Capital of Canada. The city has population of 812,000, the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population municipality in the country and second largest in Ontario....
. This was meant as a memorial

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a memory of something, usually a person or an event.Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures,statues or fountains ....
to King Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910....
. He also designed numerous municipal cenotaph

Cenotaph

A cenotaph is a tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere....
s around the country, including one in Stratford, Ontario

Stratford, Ontario

Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County, Ontario in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 30,461, according to the 2006 census....
. He created the memorial to Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, Innovation and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone.Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work....
in Brantford, Ontario, and one to William Lyon Mackenzie

William Lyon Mackenzie

William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish people-Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first Mayor of Toronto of the city of Toronto and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion....
at Queen's Park, Toronto.

Vimy Memorial

Allward is probably most famous for designing the Vimy Memorial

Vimy Memorial

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a Canadian National Historic Site and one of Canada's most important overseas war memorials. Dedicated to those Canadians who gave their lives in the World War I, the Vimy Memorial is one of eight Canadian First World War memorials in Europe....
in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, which commemorates the Battle of Vimy Ridge

Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought as part of the Battle of Arras , in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War....
during World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. He made 150 sketches of the Vimy monument before submitting the design which won the commission from the federal government. In June 1922 he went to Europe and toured for more than a year to find the kind of stone he wanted, finding it in the ruin of Diocletian's Palace

Diocletian's Palace

Diocletian's Palace is a building in Split , Croatia that was built by the emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD.Diocletian built the massive palace in preparation for his retirement on May 1, 305 AD....
in Split

Split (city)

Split is the largest Dalmatian city, the second-largest urban centre in Croatia, and the seat of Split-Dalmatia County. The city is situated on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, more specifically the eastern Adriatic Sea, spreading over a central peninsula and its surroundings, with its metropolitan area including the many surrounding lit...
, Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
. The massive project was started in 1921 and completed in 1936.

Allward appeared as a character in Jane Urquhart

Jane Urquhart

Jane Urquhart, Order of Canada is a Canada author....
's historical novel The Stone Carvers
The Stone Carvers

The Stone Carvers is a 2001 historical novel and World War I novel by the Canadian writer Jane Urquhart....
, much of which is set on the construction site of the Vimy Memorial, although details of Allward's character are largely fictional.

Walter Seymour Allward

Commissions

Vimy Memorial

External links