Walter Seymour Allward

Walter Seymour Allward was a Canadian monumental sculptor born on November 18, 1874, and passed away on April 24, 1955. He is best known for creating the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, a powerful and moving tribute to soldiers who fought in World War I. Allward's work often included expressive figures in classical styles, combined with modern designs. His sculptures and monuments explore important ideas such as memory, sacrifice, and hope.

One of Allward's earliest famous works is the Bell Telephone Memorial, created in 1917. This piece brought him much recognition and led to him being chosen to design the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, which is perhaps his most well-known creation. Some of his artworks are also held in the National Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

During the beginning of the Second World War, Allward also made about one hundred drawings with deep meanings, focusing on the theme of war. Though he was very famous during his lifetime, many people forgot about him after he died in 1955. Interest in his life and work returned when he appeared as a character in the novel The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart in 2001.

Early life

Walter Seymour Allward was born in Toronto, the son of John A. Allward and Emma Pittman from Newfoundland. He went to public schools in Toronto and, at age 14, started working with his father, who was a carpenter. Later, he learned from the architectural firm Gibson and Simpson and then worked at the Don Valley Brick Works, where he made designs for buildings. There, he showed great skill in shaping clay. These early experiences, along with classes at the New Technical School, helped prepare him for his future career as a sculptor of large, important monuments.

Body of works

Early work

Walter Seymour Allward's first job was creating a statue called Peace for the Memorial of the Battles in the North-West in Queen's Park in Toronto in 1895. He won this job when he was only nineteen, even though he had very little training. Other early works include a large statue of Dr Oronhyatekha made for the opening of the Temple Building in Toronto in 1899, and a statue called Old Soldier remembering the War of 1812, placed in what is now Victoria Memorial Square in 1903. In 1903, he became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, and later a full member in 1918. He also made portraits of important people like Lord Tennyson, Sir Charles Tupper, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. You can see statues of General John Graves Simcoe and Sir Oliver Mowat in Queen's Park too, which he finished in 1903 and 1905.

Heroic monuments

Walter Seymour Allward really shone when he made large, important statues. Some of his best works include the design for the Boer War Memorial Fountain in Windsor, Ontario in 1906, the South African War Memorial in Toronto in 1910, and the Baldwin-Lafontaine Monument on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 1914. He also designed the Bell Memorial in Brantford, Ontario in 1917 to honor Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone. Allward had started work on a memorial for King Edward VII, but World War I stopped him from finishing it. Two statues called Veritas (Truth) and Iustitia (Justice) that were meant for that memorial were found much later and placed outside the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. He also made many memorials in towns across Canada, like the Stratford Memorial in 1922 and the Peterborough Memorial in 1929.

Bell Memorial

Main article: Bell Telephone Memorial

In 1906, people from Brantford and Brant County wanted to build a memorial to celebrate Alexander Graham Bell inventing the telephone in 1874. They asked Walter Seymour Allward to design it, and his idea was chosen from ten different plans. The memorial was supposed to be ready by 1912, but it wasn’t finished until 1917. The Governor General of Canada, Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, officially opened it on October 24, 1917.

Allward’s design showed how the telephone could connect people far apart. Steps lead to the main part where statues tell a story. There is a figure called Inspiration above another called Man, the inventor, and other figures like Knowledge, Joy, and Sorrow at the far end. At each side of the memorial stand two figures representing Humanity, one sending a message and the other receiving it.

The Bell Telephone Memorial is one of Allward’s best early works and made him very famous. It is an important part of Brantford and is used for many special events.

Vimy Memorial

Main article: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Walter Seymour Allward’s most famous work is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. He worked on it from 1921 until it was unveiled on July 26, 1936, by King Edward VIII. About 100,000 people were there, including many veterans and their families. The memorial became a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996. After a big repair job costing $30 million, it was rededicated on April 9, 2007.

Allward made 150 designs before his plan was chosen. The memorial stands on Hill 145 in France, a place given by France just for this. Allward spent almost two years looking for the perfect stone. He found a special kind of limestone called Seget limestone from an old Roman quarry in Croatia. The memorial uses a strong concrete frame with the limestone attached to it. There are twenty large statues showing ideas like love, faith, honor, hope, justice, knowledge, peace, and truth. The first statue finished was called Canada Bereft, showing a sad woman, and it is very famous.

The memorial also has the names of 11,285 Canadians who died in France and have no known graves. Building it took a long time because of the huge amount of stone, the need to clear mines, and many other challenges. The project cost about $1.5 million.

Works

Honours

In 1944, Walter Seymour Allward was honored as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his important work in Canadian art. He was also part of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. On June 30, 1938, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King praised Allward in front of the House of Commons of Canada. He said that Allward’s design of the Vimy Memorial was a beautiful and special piece of art. The memorial stands as a lasting symbol of Canada’s efforts in the war and honors those who fought to protect freedom. Allward is also recognized as an important figure in Canada’s heritage.

Legacy

Walter Allward's artwork continues to be remembered through many important monuments and designs in Canada and other countries. He became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1903. One of his bronze works from 1920, called The Storm, is displayed at the National Gallery of Canada. He is also a character in Jane Urquhart's book The Stone Carvers.