Born in Wardner, Idaho on October 14, 1887 to mining engineer Frank Curtis Loring and Charlotte Moore, Frances Loring was a Canadian-based sculptor whose works can be found in many galleries in Toronto, Ontario. Loring studied at multiple schools such as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Switzerland, the Academie Colarossi in Paris, France, the Chicago Art Institute, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and at the Art Students League in New York City. Loring studied in Europe before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied with Lorado Taft. At the Institute she met Florence Wyle with whom she was to have a lifelong partnership. In 1909 Frances moved to New York City and was soon joined by Florence. The first of three studio homes they would share over their lives was located on MacDougal Alley, a lively artist colony in the heart of Greenwich Village. Theirs was no. 6, a converted stable with additional living space, where they sculpted the well-known Loring-by-Wyle and Wyle-by-Lorning portrait busts of each other. In 1912 the two moved to Toronto and rented a studio-home that occupied the whole top-floor over a carpenters shop at the corner of Church and Lombard Street called Hunters Inn. Eight years later, in 1920, Frances and Florence bought "The Church" at 110 Glenrose Avenue in the Moore Park neighborhood. The Loring-Wyle Parkette, located beside "The Church," is now home to the aforementioned Loring-by-Wyle and Wyle-by-Loring busts. In addition to being their studio-home, The Church was the official head office for the Sculptors Society of Canada and the gathering place for Toronto's artistic community. A. Y. Jackson called The Church "the most fascinating gathering place in the country" and it has been described as the closest Toronto came to having a Bohemian salon. Robertson Davies based characters on them and The Church in The Cunning Man. In 1928 Loring and Wyle were founding members of the Sculptors' Society of Canada with Alfred Laliberté, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Wood's teacher and husband Emanuel Hahn and Henri Hébert. She was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Her work was often exhibited by the Women's Art Association of Canada. In 1960, works by Loring along with those of Edmund Alleyn, Graham Coughtry, Jean Paul Lemieux and Albert Dumouchel represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.
Artistic career
Frances Loring is famous for her unique sculptures, and produced and created hundreds of different pieces of art, including public monument home-front sculptures during the First World War, war memorials after the war, architectural sculptures, portraits, and garden sculptures. She was a member and the founding of the Sculptors Society of Canada and the chief organizer of the Federation of Canadian Artists and the Canada Council of the Arts. Loring used to create her art based on what was happening around her in history and she worked with a large variety of materials to make her sculptures. Loring was known as well for her collaborations with Florence Wyle, including in 1928, at the University of Toronto they created a war memorial in Osgoode Hall, the Library, and the Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, located in Casimir Gzowski Park since 1975. She also created a portrait of Prime Minister Robert Borden in bronze and various war memorials in Cambridge, Ontario,
Associations with artists
Loring is closely associated with fellow sculptor Florence Wyle, and they were both known to become some of the first prominent Canadian sculptures. Loring and Wyle are usually connected with each other because their relationship, both personal and professional, lasted for over 60 years. Loring and Wyle first met at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905, which resulted in a long friendship. Even though the two women were after the same commissions, they often collaborated on multiple projects with each other. Before Loring or Wyle's art promoted sculptures in Canada, there were very few sculptures due to the lack of interested artists, shortage of foundries and the expensive cost of materials were all factors of the lack of sculptors at that time, and they often had to rely on commissions to gain money for needed material. After Loring and Wyle's works have gained popularity, both artists contributed significant influence on Canadian art by showing that the art of sculpting is equally as important as any other art form. Loring and Wyle had moved into an abandoned church in 1920, and it soon served as both their home and studio. After their sculptures gained some popularity, the church became headquarters for the Sculptor's Society of Canada, where Loring and Wyle both considered as the founding members.
Collaboration
In 1913, Loring and Wyle moved to Toronto, where they began being referred to as "The Girls." Both of them quickly became major forces in the city and across the country, getting major commissions during World War I and II. Commissions included those by the Canadian War Memorial Fund and the City of Toronto government to create sculptures of women on the Canadian home front. For the Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, a monument for Queen Elizabeth and her husband, King George VI, Loring designed and carved the lion and column, and Wyle carved the much smaller King and Queen in relief. In 1965, Loring and Wyle made mirroring wills that called for the creation of The Sculpture Fund, an acquisition fund for museums, galleries and places of learning to purchase sculpture. They died three weeks apart in 1968. While their intention was to leave all their money from estate sales to support a new generation of Canadians sculptors, The Sculpture Fund was not fulfilled.
Death
In 1968, Frances Loring died and donated proceeds from the sale of her works. A trust fund was set-up to support future sculptures in Canada.
