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WOOD, Elizabeth Wyn

Born
Orillia, Ontario, 1903
Died
Willowdale, Ontario, 1966
Biography synopsis
Elizabeth Wyn Wood was born in Orillia, Ontario in 1903. She studied at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto, specializing in sculpture in her postgraduate year (1926). She married her sculptor instructor Emanuel Hahn in 1926, and later studied one year at the Art Students League, New York. In 1930 she won the Willingdon Arts Award for sculpture. She attended the first general assembly of UNESCO in Paris in 1946 supported by the Canadian Government. Her contact with the glaciated formations and landscapes of Georgian Bay and Muskoka during her childhood influenced her work and turned her sculpture to the Canadian landscape. She was founding member of the Sculptors’ Society of Canada in 1928 and its president from 1933 to 1935. She was author of the Brief of the Sculptors' Society of Canada to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Science submitted to the Massey Commission in 1949. She worked as organizing secretary at the Canadian Arts Council (1944-1945), as chair of the international relations committee (1944-1948) and she was the vice-president from 1948 to 1949. From 1929 to 1958 she was teacher at Central Technical School, Toronto. She also produced architectural sculpture and monuments, including the monument to King George IV at Niagara Falls, Ontario (1963), the Welland-Crowland War Memorial (1939); four carvings for the approach plaza to Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls, Ontario (1940-1942); two relief carvings for the Bank of Montreal Building in Toronto (1947-1948) and the Leacock Memorial in Orillia Public Library (1949). Elizabeth Wyn Wood was one of the first modernists in Canadian sculpture and is recognized for her production of sculpture-landscapes.
Media used
Sculpture
Education
Ontario College of Art & Design (formerly Ontario School of Art), 1921 - 1926
Art Students' League, New York (under Robert Laurent and Edward McCarten)
Memberships
Sculptors' Society of Canada, 1928
File & Archive locations
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Hamilton Public Library, ON - Local History and Archives Department
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
London Public Library, ON
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
University of Calgary Library, AB
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
Queen's University Archives, ON
Canadian War Museum, ON
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"?" Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Oct. 1929): 381
"?" Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Jan. 1932): 19-21
"?" Winnipeg Free Press 26 Nov. 1938
"A Gallery of Women." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 19 Mar. 1959
"Art for people who admire royalty: $60,000 to put George VI in Niagara." Maclean's Magazine 76.47 (24 Aug. 1963): 47
"Awards in the Welland War Memorial Competition." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Nov. 1934): 168
"Awards in two Recent War Memorial Competitions: Winnipeg War Memorial." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1927): 422-3
"Beauty That Begot Beauty Is Legacy of Great Artist." Packet & Times (Orillia, Ontario) 2 Feb. 1966
"Canada's Largest Granite Figure Designed By 5-Foot Lady." Toronto Star Weekly 19 Nov. 1938
"Canadian Sculptors Show Outstanding Work." Daily Mail and Empire (Toronto) 13 Apr. 1932
"Centennial Praise and Problems: Residents buy sculpture." North-York Mirror (Don Mills, Ontario) 26 Oct. 1966
"Choose Sculptor To Design Statue Honoring King." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 11 Feb. 1955
"Design Rejected After Acceptance." Mail and Empire (Toronto) 5 Dec. 1927
"Discussion in Connection with the Competition for the Winnipeg War Memorial." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Mar. 1928): 90-1
"Distinguished Speakers To Attend Dinner On Friday." Packet & Times (Orillia, Ontario) 18 Sept. 1951
"Drawing by Elizabeth Wyn Wood." Canadian Forum 12.136 (Jan. 1932): 193
"Elizabeth Wood, Sculptress, Shows Spirit of Canada." Brockville Record (Ontario) 1930
"Elizabeth Wyn Wood: Sculptor left her mark throughout Ontario." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 31 Jan. 1966
"Elizabeth Wynn Wood Heads Sculptor's Group." Mail and Empire (Toronto) 27 Mar. 1935
"Exposition d'art qui comporte une vivifiante leçon." La Presse (Montreal) 19 Apr. 1929
"Governor-General Arts Competition Results Announced." Star 4 May 1929
"Governor-General's Arts Competition." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Jun. 1929): 210
"Honour War Dead." Hamilton Spectator 26 Feb. 1938
"King George Monument To Be Unveiled." Tribune (Welland-Port Colborne, Ontario) 25 Jun. 1963
"Le 56e Salon de l'Académie." La Presse (Montreal) 25 Nov. 1935
"Les Lauréats de ce concours d'arts." La Presse (Montreal) 3 May 1929
"Miss Wood's Design for Cenotaph." Winnipeg Free Press 9 Dec. 1927
"Monument at Niagara In Honor of John Simcoe." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 28 Jul. 1953
"N.Y. Art Show Features Works of Canadians." Montreal Daily Star 29 Apr. 1947: 9
"One of Canada's Best, Artist Visiting Here." Winnipeg Tribune 31 Mar. 1961
"One of the Unnoticed Faithful." Observer Apr. 1932
"Only Art is Good Art Says Visiting Sculptor." Winnipeg Free Press 31 Mar. 1961
"Ontario Art College Students of Promise." Ottawa Citizen 31 May 1924
"Orillia Artist Offers Plan For Encouragement of Canadian Art." Packet & Times (Orillia, Ontario) 6 Apr. 1944
"Orillia Possesses Three Busts By Famous Native Sculptor." Daily Packet & Times (Orillia, Ontario) 24 Mar. 1959
"People Who Do Things." Saturday Night (1 Dec. 1934)
"Prize-Winnipeg Cenotaph Design Again Rejected." Tribune (Winnipeg) 3 Dec. 1927
"Rejection of Model Laid to Prejudice." Toronto Star Weekly 3 Dec. 1927
"Sculptor to Lecture: Women's Art Society to Hear Elizabeth Wyn Wood." Ottawa Citizen 17 Feb. 1941
"Sculptress interprets Land's Spirit: Canadian Girl is Sort of Lawren Harris." North Bay Nugget (Ontario) 5 Apr. 1930
"Sculpture Vehicle for Great Emotion." Gazette (Montreal) 19 Feb. 1941
"Seek Way Out of Cenotaph Design Problem." Tribune (Winnipeg) 2 Dec. 1927
"She Hopes War Memorials Will Not Be Needed Again." Toronto Star Weekly 3 Dec. 1938
"Striking Design, Described as Truly Poetic Conception, is Accepted from 23 Entries for Local War Memorial." Evening Tribune (Welland, Ontario) 9 Nov. 1934
"The Cenotaph Decision." Winnipeg Free Press 3 Dec. 1927
"The lot of the Canadian sculptors is a sad one..." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1935): 198
"The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts." Journal, Royal Architectural institute of Canada (Dec. 1930): 439
"The Welland War Memorial Competition." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1934): 182-3
"Toronto Woman Sculptor Winner of $25,000 Prize." Toronto Telegraph 9 Nov. 1934
"Two Toronto Artists Win Award." Telegram (Toronto) 19 Jul. 1958
"Wife Wins After Husband's Design is Disqualified." Tribune (Winnipeg) 14 Nov. 1927
"Winner is Wife of Hahn: Elizabeth Wood is Native of Orillia, Ont., Living in Toronto." Winnipeg Free Press 12 Nov. 1927
"Winnipeg Cenotaph Plans Attacked." Mail and Empire (Toronto) 15 Nov. 1927
Adley, Allyson Sarah. Re-presenting Diasporic Difference: Images of Immigrant Women by Canadian Women Artists, 1912-1935 Montreal: Concordia University, 1999
Ayre, Robert. "Art News and Reviews: Canada's Art Exhibition At the World's Fair 'Credit to the Dominion'." Standard (Montreal) 8 May 1939: M7
Baker, Victoria. Emanuel Hahn and Elizabeth Wyn Wood: Tradition and innovation in Canadian sculpture Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1997
Bannerman, Jean. "Recent Work Enhances Reputation of Orillia Woman As One of World's Finest Sculptors." Daily Packet & Times (Orillia, Ontario) 31 Aug. 1957
Brooker, Bertram. "A Review of the Arts at the Canadian National Exhibition, 1932." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Oct. 1932): 232-234
Brooker, Bertram. "Sculpture's New Mood." Yearbook of the Arts in Canada, 1928-1929 Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada, 1929: 99-104
Browne, Qennefer and Sally Gower. "A child's dream: an artist's life." Huronia Sunday Magazine 4.2 (1 Nov. 1992) 3-4
Carney, Lora Senechal. Canadian Painters in a Modern World, 1925–1955: Writings and Reconsiderations Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017
Conde, Valerie. "Art and the State." Windsor Daily Times 13 May 1944
Dagg, Anne Innis. "What Happens to Women's Art?" Globe and Mail (Toronto) 4 Aug. 1984
Desjardins, Marie-Paule. Dictionnaire biographique des femmes célèbres et rémarquables de notre histoire Montréal: Guérin, 2007
Gauthier, Valerie. "Elizabeth Wyn Wood: A Canadian Sculptor in the Collections." National Gallery of Canada Magazine 19 Jan. 2023
http://www.gallery.ca/magazine/your-collection/elizabeth-wyn-wood-a-canadian-sculptor-in-the-collections
Hambleton, Josepine. "Canadian Women Sculptors." Dalhousie Review 29.3 (Oct. 1949): 327-37
Hammond, M. O. "Painting and Sculpture in Canada." Dalhousie Review 10 (1930-31): 382-89
Horne, Cleeve. "And Sculpture." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Nov. 1949): 378
J.C. "Chronique d'art." La Revue Populaire (Jun. 1929): 7-10
Jeffreys, Charles W. "The Fiftieth Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Jan. 1929): 6-13
Jewell, Edward Alden. "Canadian Women Offer Art Display." New York Times 29 Apr. 1947: 33
Lauder, Adam. "Vorticulturalism: Canadian Women Vorticists." Border Crossings 33.1 (2014): 59-64
Le Bourdais, D. M. "Hahn and Wife, Sculptors." MacLean's 58.21 (1 Nov. 1945): 19-20
Luckyj, Natalie. Visions and Victories: 10 Canadian Women Artists 1914-1945 London: London Regional Art Gallery, 1983
Lyle, John M.. "Fifty-First Annual Exhibition Royal Canadian Academy of Arts." The Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Jan. 1931): 4-10
MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009
Mather, Winifred. "The Coin Box." Sherbrooke Daily Record 28 Mar. 1964
McCarthy, Pearl. "Art and Artists: Canadian Sculptor at Work on New Simcoe Monument." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 28 Jul. 1951
McCarthy, Pearl. "Art and Artists: Fine Show Home Again From N.Y." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 6 Sept. 1947: 8
McCarthy, Pearl. "Art and Artists: Sculptor Excels at Congress." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 15 Oct. 1960
Milroy, Sarah, ed. Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Movement Vancouver: Figure 1, 2021
Ontario College of Art. The Ontario College of Art Prospectus for Session 1925-1926 Toronto: Rowley W. Murphy, 1925
Ontario Society of Artists. Catalogue of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists, 1930 Toronto: 1930
Ontario Society of Artists. Catalogue of the Fifty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists and Edmund Morris Memorial Exhibition, 1928 Toronto: Art Gallery of Toronto, 1928
Perkins, Patty. "Patty Perkins Club: Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Artist And Sculptor, Conceived The Welland-Crowland Memorial." Welland Evening Tribune 2 Sept. 1939
Salinger, Jehanne Bietry. "Elizabeth Wyn Wood Hahn." Canadian Forum 9.128 (May 1931): 302-3
Voaden, Herman. "Elizabeth Wyn Wood." Maritime Art 2.5, (Jun-Jul. 1942): 145-9
Voaden, herman. "The Canadian Arts Council and UNESCO." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Apr. 1947): 132-135, 143
Way, Ronald. "The Work of the Niagara Parks Commission." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1943): 207-218
Wells, Kenneth. "Canadian Artists: Elizabeth Wyn Wood." Toronto Telegram 28 Apr. 1934
Wolfe, Curtis. Engaging the Public Sphere: The Art and Advocacy of Elizabeth Wyn Wood and Paraskeva Clark Related to Their Debate Over the Artist's Role in Society Ottawa: Carleton University, 2010

Writings by
Wood, Eizabeth Wyn. “Art Goes to Parliament." Canadian Art 11.1 (Oct-Nov. 1944): 3
Wood, Eizabeth Wyn. “Canadian Handicrafts.” Canadian Art 2.5 (Summer 1945)
Wood, Eizabeth Wyn. “Foreword.” Canadian Women Artists New York: Riverside Museum, 1947
Wood, Elizabeth Wyn. "A National Program for the Arts in Canada." Canadian Art 1.3 (Feb-Mar. 1944): 93-5, 127-8
Wood, Elizabeth Wyn. "Art and the Pre-Cambrian Shield." Canadian Forum 16.193 (Feb. 1937): 13-5
Wood, Elizabeth Wyn. "Observations on a Decade ... 1938-1948: Ten Years of Canadian Sculpture." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 25.1 (Jan. 1948): 15-19
Wood, Elizabeth Wyn. "The Beautiful Welland-Crowland War Memorial." Welland Evening Tribune 2 Sept. 1939
Wood, Elizabeth Wyn. "The National Gallery." Canadian Forum 13.150 (Mar. 1933): 226-9

Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 18, 1926) M.L.F..  "Many Fine Pictures at Academy Exhibit."  Toronto Star  November 18, 1926.  p.7.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 18, 1926) F. H. Brigden.  "The Academy Exhibition."  Royal Architectural Institute of Canada  January 1927.  p.17,19-26.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 18, 1926) "The R.C.A."  Canadian Bookman  January 1927.  p.11.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 24, 1927) Albert Laberge.  "Appréciation de quelques toiles du Salon des artistes Canadiens."  La Presse (Montreal)  December 03, 1927.  p.52.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 24, 1927) "The Royal Academy of Arts at Montreal. Stylists and Conventionalists Draw Contradictory Opinions."  Canadian Homes and Gardens  January 1928.  5:1: pp.64,66.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 29, 1928) Augustus Bridle.  "Royal Canadian Academy Opens Here this Evening. Nearly 500 Pictures Sent in and 240 Are Hung - Most Brilliant Collection of Thoroughly Lawful Pictures in Life of R.C.A."  Toronto Star  November 29, 1928.  p.13.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 29, 1928) "Canadian Academy Exhibition Strikes More Modern Note."  Mail and Empire (Toronto)  November 30, 1928.  p.8.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 29, 1928) Jeanne Adeney.  "Art Notes."  Canadian Bookman  January 1929.  p.25.   Full-text pdf
Ontario Society of Artists Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, March 1930) Constance C. Mackay.  "O.S.A. Exhibit."  Toronto Saturday Night  March 15, 1930.  p.39.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 19, 1931) "Wide Range of Art In R.C.A. Exhibition."  Gazette (Montreal)  November 20, 1931.  p.10.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 19, 1931) "Fine Work at Royal Academy. Best Balanced Show In Recent Years, Is Verdict."  Evening Free Press (London, Ontario)  November 21, 1931.  p.5.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 19, 1931) "Landscapes, Portraits, Water Colors, Sculpture, Viewed at Exhibition of Royal Canadian Academy."  Montreal Star  November 25, 1931.  p.11.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 19, 1931) W. S. Maxwell.  "Fifty-Second Annual Exhibition, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts."  Royal Architectural Institute of Canada  January 1932.  9.1: pp.14-21.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 1932) "New Names on Roster of Artists Whose Work Academy Has Accepted. Fifty-third Annual Exhibition Royal Canadian Academy Opened- Two Hundred Canvases."  Evening Telegram (Toronto)  November 05, 1932.  p.14.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 1932) "Horrors and Experiments Deck Walls at R.C.A. Show. Usual Formality of Treatment and Subject Enlivened by Strange Painting and Sculpture."  Evening Telegram (Toronto)  November 08, 1932.  p.13.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 1933) H. Rooney Pelletier.  "Canada's Art Exhibit Reveals New Ability. Increased Average of Mature Technique Noted at Opening."  Mail and Empire (Toronto)  November 17, 1933.  p.2.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 1933) "Many Artists from Toronto in Royal Academy Showing."  Evening Telegram (Toronto)  November 17, 1933.  p.4.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 1933) Reta W. Myers.  "In the Domain of Art. A Weekly Causerie of Interest to Art Lovers."  Publication Not Verified  November 18, 1933.  p.14.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 1933) "Royal Canadian Academy's 54th Exhibition."  Montreal Star  November 22, 1933.  p.15.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) "The Fifty-Sixth Exhibition of the Canadian Academy."  Montreal Star  November 22, 1935.  p.13.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) Reynald.  "Le 56e Salon de l'Académie. A défaut de révéler des tendances neuves, le Salon garde une allure distinguée et une belle tenue d'ensemble. Plus de "bon ton" que de vitalité. Maints portraits."  La Presse (Montreal)  November 22, 1935.  p.19.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) "Art Gallery Scene of R.C.A. Exhibition. Paintings and Other Works from Various Canadian Points Total 444. Much Good Portraiture."  Gazette (Montreal)  November 23, 1935.  p.19.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) H. Poynter Bell.  "The Fifty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts."  Royal Architectural Institute of Canada  December 1935.  pp.195-198, 202.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (, October 11, 1940) Graham McInnes.  "A Great Little Show."  Toronto Saturday Night  October 26, 1940.  p.26.   Full-text pdf

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