| Leo Mol | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Leonid Molodozhanyn |
| Born | January 15, 1915 Polonne, Ukraine |
| Died | July 4, 2009 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Field | Sculpture, Painting, Drawing |
| Training | Leningrad Academy of Arts |
Leo Mol, OC, OM (January 15, 1915 – July 4, 2009) was a Ukrainian Canadian artist and sculptor.
Born Leonid Molodozhanyn in Polonne, Ukraine,[1] Mol studied sculpture at the Leningrad Academy of Arts from 1936 to 1940.[2] Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union he moved to Germany where he was influenced by Arno Breker.[1] In 1945, he moved to The Hague, and in December, 1948, he and his wife, Magareth (whom he married in 1943), emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba.[3][4]
More than three hundred of Mol's works are displayed in the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park. The garden was unveiled in 1992 and has been expanded twice since. It is supported by private donations, and Mol personally donated most of the sculpture.
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In 2002, his sculpture Lumberjacks was featured on a Canadian postage stamp.[3]
He was always known as a particularly prolific artist and some of his most famous works include likenesses of three different Popes which stand in museums in the Vatican. He also has a sculpture of Taras Shevchenko on display on Washington’s Embassy Row.[5]
Other important subjects who Mol sculpted include members of the Group of 7, A. J. Casson, A.Y. Jackson and Frederick Varley.[6] Mol also sculpted Sir Winston Churchill 1966, Peter Kuch, Dwight D. Eisenhower 1965, John F. Kennedy 1969, Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook ca. 1970, Terry Fox 1982.[7] On Parliament Hill in Ottawa stands his impressive over life-size standing portrait figure of Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker 1985[8] Also on Parliament Hill stands an impressive bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth II.[9]
Mol died July 4, 2009, at the Tache Centre medical facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was 94.[2]
In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[10] In 2000, he was awarded the Order of Manitoba. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[4]
He received honorary degrees from the University of Winnipeg, the University of Alberta and the University of Manitoba.[4]
Mol's was also made an Honourary Academician of the Canadian Portrait Academy (Hon. CPA) in 2000.[11]