Walter Seymour Allward, R.C.A., 1876-1955

A renowned Canadian sculptor, Allward was born in Toronto and attended Central Technical School. He studied under William Cruikshank and Emmanuel Hahn, prominent Canadian sculptors, and later in London and Paris. His first important commission, the Northwest Rebellion Memorial (Toronto), was executed in 1895. Allward's mature style was revealed in the Baldwin-Lafontaine Monument in 1915 (Ottawa). His greatest project was the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France. This vast, solemn work, completed in 1936, took fourteen years to execute. Among his other well-known works are Toronto monuments to William Lyon Mackenzie, John Graves Simcoe, and this memorial to the South African War. His work is represented in the National Gallery, Ottawa.