It’s Labour Day in Canada and the US … a day to celebrate workers. In honour of Labour Day, here are two more of Frances Loring and Florence Wyle’s sculptures of war workers on the home front.
Wyle and Loring were commissioned by the War Memorial Funds Committee to do a series of sculptures of “girl war workers” as part of the project to document Canada’s participation in the war. After touring munitions plants, Wyle decided to include some male workers, too.
Wyle’s A Moulder (holding molten iron ready to pour into a mould) and Loring’s Girls with a Rail* convey the strength and effort required for the jobs.
Now part of the Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, the bronzes from the Loring and Wyle commission have been mostly in storage for almost 100 years. Girls with a Rail is on regular display. Until recently, some others formed a special exhibit in the lobby of the Canadian War Museum. I hope the War Museum brings them back on permanent display.
* Loring photos shot through display case … impossible to get a clear image without reflections.
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