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Alfred Howell was born in Oldbury, England, his father was a Welshman. By 1909, Alfred entered The Royal College of Art, London and stay there until 1913. He studied sculpting under Professor Lanteri, Professor Pite for
architecture, and design from Professor Lothaby. By 1911 he won the British
Institution scholarship going on to graduate in 1915. Alfred told me he just got married before immigrating to Canada to accept the directorship at Central Technical School in Toronto, where he stayed until 1929.
Besides being director of the Art department he encouraged students in music. One such person was later to become the first violinist for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. It was this man, Alfred Howell, that I got to know through a physiotherapist in Toronto. That I was able to talk and visit over several years. I even went to Cleveland to confirm and share some of his experiences in Canada and the U.S.A. In 1929 Mr. Howell accepted upon request the position at Western Reserve University. He stayed there for 30 years until he retired in 1959. It was so pleasant to just pick up the phone and talk about events that otherwise would have been lost about what had gone on while he was accepting commissions for his many War memorials he executed in Ontario and New Brunswick.
Every time I got new information on a memorial we would talk about how he gained the commission and the competitors that came in second place. It was interesting, to say, go to Oshawa and stand in front of this memorial and know what went into the erection of the stones and the bronze soldier. It was good to learn about the Memorial in St. John's, New Brunswick, with the impressive figure that tops this memorial. I can only enjoy it from the photos I have sent to me.
Alfred sent me all of his original albums which I took apart and redid. Plus add the ones I had taken though his guidance. It was a while before I got to Sault St. Marie to gather in the mass of information about that Memorial. Pembroke has a memorial of a Soldier but the background was a red brick building and the light not just right. I have to retake it some day.
Like all the artists in Ontario and Québec, they fought to get commissions by a competition process. It was to submit a proposal and accept plaster models unsigned with only an envelope with the artists name and qualifications. This put the artists against each other. When I mentioned this to Mr. Howell his reply was simple. "All we want to do is make our country a more beautiful place to live within." Added was my question about the radical change in subject matter after the erection of so many War memorials, he replied "I just got tired of doing so many reminders of violence and suffering." So later on you can see by the few pieces shown here his dedication to Music and garden fountains "Child of a Sea Horse".
Mr. Howell lectured all of his life and he had definite likes and dislikes in all the arts. His memorial plaques are a real pleasure to look at but they were not numerous. His obituary had a lot to say about him, things I already knew. What were important for me were the things no one else knew. The story of the Guelph War memorial when he was conceiving the design. He had a sister who was living in England and was not so well. It was her who appeared on the top of the model shaking her finger. He put her on top of the memorial and that is what won him the commission. It was good to hear how he carefully chose the stones to make an interesting remembrance. He even flattered me in taking such good photos of his works.
William Hamilton Merrit the builder of the Welland Canal was to be remembered in the erection of a statue. We did not go into much detail on this more private work but it is a good statue just the same. His efforts to start the Sculptor Society of Canada in 1929 and upgraded the standard of work were always uppermost in his mind.
The National Gallery of Canada has a couple of his works "Soldiers Head", is one of them. "Blind Man" was explained of how he just closed his eyes when he wished to portray him as blind.
The sense of saving his records gave me a lot of pleasure and taught me what was going on in the Loring-Wyle and Walter Allward studios in Toronto. The whole thing of secrecy of works and the manipulation that went on internally.
All of these works were done on top of his teaching which made a very busy life as the commissions came and went. Most of his works were cast out of this country which meant added cost. One foundry did operate from Toronto but closed after the War memorial fever calmed down around 1930.
The small busts that the Central Technical School own are the only portraits I have found accept perhaps his own child. For the four years that I attended the same school I would pass a statue of a soldier and a woman. It never got cast in bronze but was done in commemoration of Belgium. He offered it to me when I had my museum but I did not take it any further. I think it is still in need of repair.
I have 37 pages of text covering every unveiling ceremony and exhibition he entered while in Canada. The private exhibitions he held in Cleveland I have no record of at this time. His wife is dead and so is his daughter.
I can close this chapter in our history with one comment that I am glad to have found Alfred Howell, the people who knew him while he was the director of the school, plus a few friends.
I hope his memory will live on through his efforts and mine to gather as much as we could about this wonderful artist who adopted Canada and the U.S.A. as his country to educate and show the way. It was taken me all over the Province but I loved every moment of the discovery.
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