Florence Norma Wyle (November 14, 1881 – January 14, 1968) was an American-Canadian sculptor, designer and poet; a pioneer of the Canadian art scene. She practiced chiefly in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, living and working with her partner

Frances Loring Frances Norma Loring LL. D. (October 14, 1887– February 5, 1968) was a Canadian sculptor. Biography Loring was born in Wardner, Idaho on October 14, 1887 to mining engineer Frank Curtis Loring (1859-1938) and Charlotte Moore.Amy Marshall Furne ...

, with whom she shared a studio and home for almost sixty years. In 1928, with Loring,

Alfred Laliberté Alfred Laliberté (19 May 1877 – 13 January 1953) was a French-Canadian sculptor and painter based in Montreal. His output includes more than 900 sculptures in bronze, marble, wood, and plaster. Many of his sculptures depict national figure ...

, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Emanuel Hahn and Henri Hébert, she co-founded the Sculptors' Society of Canada, which she served as president in 1942. She was the first woman sculptor to become a full member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

. Throughout her career, alongside Loring, she persistently and convincingly advocated for policy, tax benefits and living wages in support of artists' work.

Biography

Wyle was born in

Trenton, Illinois Trenton is a city in Clinton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,690 at the 2020 census. There is, however, a small portion of St. Clair County, Illinois inside Trenton. Geography Trenton is located at (38.605943, -89.681725). ...

and in 1900 enrolled at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

as a pre-med student where anatomy classes awakened in her a wonder and reverence for human anatomy. Three years later (1903) she transferred to the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

where she began studying clay modeling with

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860 – October 30, 1936) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Part of the American Renaissance movement, his monumental pieces include, ''Fountain of Time'', ''Spirit of the Great Lakes'', and ''The ...

. She studied modelling and sculptural design in the US with

. Wyle moved to

in 1913 to join Loring who had moved there the year before. Wyle worked as a sculptor in clay, plasticine, stone and wood until her death in 1968. Most of her carvings were executed by herself. One of her early works, ''Sun Worshipper'' (1916) is a bronze female nude "basking in the rays" and arching her body in a way that "hints more than a little at sexual pleasures." Wyle was a member of the

Ontario Society of Artists The Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) was founded in 1872. It is Canada's oldest continuously operating professional art society. When it was founded at the home of John Arthur Fraser, seven artists were present. Besides Fraser himself, Marmaduke ...

(1920–1933, then from 1948), the

Sculptors Society of Canada The Sculptors Society of Canada (SSC) 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 Lali ...

(1933), the

(associate 1920, full member 1938) and the Canadian Guild of Potters.

Career and official commissions

Wyle preferred to make sculpture that was small in scale and concerned with pure form compared with that of her partner

. Curators observe that she had a better grasp of modelling and anatomy. She was made a member of the

. Her work, like Loring's, was often exhibited by many institutions such as the

, the

and the Women's Art Association of Canada. Small figurines in wood which were part of the

Dominion Drama Festival The Dominion Drama Festival was an organisation in Canada that sought to promote amateur theatre across the country. It lasted, in one form or another, from 1932 until 1978. Founding The Dominion Drama Festival (DDF) was devised in 1932 as a wa ...

trophy set were among her commissions the year she was 80. The Ontario Veterinary College has one of her pieces, a bas-relief panel 13' high depicting farm animal. The late Pearl McCarthy, art critic for the ''Globe and Mail'', once said that large or small, cats or heroes, the sculpture of Frances Wyle had a lyrical as well as classical quality. *1926 – St. Stephen War Memorial *1957 – ''Mother and Children'', Canadian National Exhibition

Posthumous honour

In 2000 the Canadian Portrait Academy made Wyle an Honorary Academician naming her one of the Top 100 Artists of the 20th Century.

Publications

* *

References

External links

*
Florence Wyle archival papers
at the Art Gallery of Ontario research library and archives * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyle, Florence 1881 births 1968 deaths Canadian women sculptors Canadian women poets American emigrants to Canada Canadian designers Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 20th-century Canadian sculptors 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women artists 20th-century Canadian women writers Lesbian sculptors Lesbian poets Canadian lesbian artists American lesbian artists Canadian LGBTQ sculptors American LGBTQ sculptors Canadian LGBTQ poets American LGBTQ poets 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) American women poets Artists from Illinois artists from Ontario LGBTQ people from Illinois 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century American women sculptors Canadian war artists World War I artists Canadian women designers