Florence Wyle

Florence Norma Wyle
Born	1881 Trenton, Illinois, USA
Died	1968 Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	American-Canadian
Field	Sculptor and designer
Training	Frances Loring
Movement	NeoClassical
Patrons	Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook

Florence Wyle (1881 – 1968) was an American-born Canadian sculptor and designer. She practiced chiefly in Toronto, living and working with her partner sculptor Frances Loring. She co-founded the Sculptors' Society of Canada with Alfred Laliberté, Florence Wyle, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Wood's teacher and husband Emanuel Hahn and Henri Hébert. ^[1]

Biography

Education and training

Wyle was born in Trenton, Illinois, USA, and moved to Toronto in 1913. She studied modelling and sculptural design in the USA under Frances Loring.

From 1913 - 1968 she worked as a sculptor in clay, plasticine, stone and wood. Most of her carvings were executed by herself.

Private life

Wyle lived an open life with her same-sex partner Frances Loring in a converted church/schoolhouse they bought together in Moore Park, Toronto. Their home was a mecca for artists of their time.

Publications

The Shadow of the Year, poems by Florence Wyle. wood engravings by Rosemary Kilbourne. Toronto, The Aliquando Press, 1976

Career and official commissions

Wyle preferred architectural projects that were large in scale compared to her partner Frances Loring. She was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.^[2]

• 1926 - St. Stephen War Memorial
• 1957 - Mother and Children, Canadian National Exhibition

Portraits by other artists

Wyle was the subject of at least one portrait by Loring.

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.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Florence Wyle.

• Sisler, Rebecca. "Wyle, Florence - The Canadian Encyclopedia". Retrieved 2011-02-06.