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DeutschElizabeth Bradford Holbrook
Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Mary Bradford November 7, 1913 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | February 23, 2009 (aged 95) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. |
| Education | Ontario College of Art |
| Known for | Sculptor and designer |
| Notable work | Federal Building "Wildlife and Industry" panels ca. 1952, "George Bernard Shaw" 1997, "Emanuel Hahn" 1952, "Family Tree" 1960. |
| Awards | Lieut. Governor’s Silver Medal for Sculpture, 1935; National Sculpture Society of New York, Gold Medal, 1969 and the Canadian Portrait Academy Cleeve Horne Award - Best Portrait Sculpture, 1998 |
Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook, CM, O.Ont (7 November 1913 – 23 February 2009) was a Canadian portrait sculptor, medal designer, and liturgical artist.
Education and training[edit]
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 7, 1913,[1] Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook was the great-great-granddaughter of the Hon. John Willson, the first speaker for the House in Upper Canada.[2] Holbrook studied at the Hamilton Art School (1928–31), Ontario College of Art (1932-35), Royal College of Art in London, England (1936) and at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (1948).[3] She studied with such artists as Hortense Gordon, John S. Gordon, John Sloan, Gustav Hahn, Emanuel Hahn, Rowley Murphy, and Carl Milles.[4]
She was a lecturer in Sculpture at the Dundas Valley School of Art from 1965 to 1969.,[4] at the Burlington Cultural Centre from 1990-1993 and at McMaster University, Faculty of Arts in Hamilton, Ontario from 1995-1999. Holbrook’s portrait sculptures are represented in over 50 public collections worldwide.
Subjects[edit]
Holbrook's subjects included HM Queen Elizabeth II; William Osler; Ellen Fairclough; John Diefenbaker; Emanuel Hahn; Henry Moore; among many others. Her works include the bronze 24' standing figure of a Royal Military College of Canada cadet 1979 (later known as ‘Brucie’), which was a gift of the Royal Military College Club.[5] She also produced a bronze bust of Colonel George Stanley, a former Royal Military College professor, who designed the Canadian Flag.[6] For the Federal Building, Hamilton, Ontario, she completed eight large mezzo relief stone panels depicting wildlife and industry.
In 1996, she completed a sculpture of George Bernard Shaw for the then-new plaza in Niagara-on-the-Lake.[7] Her last commissioned sculptures were of Conrad Black and his wife Barbara Amiel created in 2000 and 2002 respectively.
Death[edit]
Holbrook died of natural causes in Hamilton on February 23, 2009.[8] She is buried at St. John's Anglican Church, Ancaster, Ontario alongside her husband "Jack" Holbrook and her son William "Billy" Holbrook. The family is interred next to a liturgical headstone designed by Holbrook.
Influenced[edit]
Holbrook mentored and influenced Canadian sculptor Christian Cardell Corbet.[9][10]
Memberships[edit]
- Order of Canada
- Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
- Ontario Society of Artists
- Sculptors' Society of Canada
- Canadian Portrait Academy, 1997 - Founding Member
- Order of Ontario
- International Art Medal Association (FIDEM)
- Medallic Art Society of Canada
- Canadian Group of Art Medallists[11]
Awards and honours[edit]
- 1935 Awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Painting at the Ontario College of Art (second recipient)
- 1969 Awarded the Gold Medal for Portraiture from National Sculpture Society of New York
- 1977 Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
- 1987 Awarded "Woman of the Year in the Arts" from the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- 1994 Awarded Member Hamilton Hall of Distinction
- 1982 Awarded the Ontario Society of Arts Award
- 1992 Awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
- 1996 Appointment as Fellow, Ontario College of Art & Design
- 1997 Appointment to the Order of Ontario
- 1997 Appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada
- 1997 Awarded Honorary Doctorate by McMaster University
References[edit]
- ^ "Canadian Who's Who Biography: Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook". Utpress.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
- ^ Zack, Lillian (20 January 1983). "Sculptor has come long way from start on Emerald Street". E.P. Taylor Library and Archives, Toronto: The Hamilton Spectator.
- ^ "Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook". Ontario Society of Artists. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ a b Bradford Holbrook, Elizabeth (31 December 1975). Biographical Information Sheet. E.P. Taylor Research Library & Archives, Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario.
- ^ "Archives and Special Collections | University of Calgary |". Specialcollections.ucalgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
- ^ "DSpace at University of Calgary: Home". Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
- ^ "Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook". The Dr. George F. Stanley Book Collection. University of Calgary. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
- ^ "Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook". National Gallery of Canada. The National Gallery of Canada. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Christian Cardell Corbet chronicles Canada's military history". Archived from the original on 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ "Bradford – Sculptor". wordpress.com. 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ "Holbrook, Elizabeth (Mary Bradford)". Canadian Women Artists History Initiative. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
