The Mystery Sculpture #28

 Attributed to the late William McElcheran.
In the mid-1950's, the sculptor William McElcheran joined a Toronto Architectural firm as a Liturgical Designer. As an artist of remarkable inventiveness, his influence bears heavily on the work of this period in both the building and furniture design. McElcheran's influence continued into the early sixties when he left the firm to devote himself full-time to sculpture.
In addition to the many churches, McElcheran's influence was quite evident in the McMaster Divinity College and Chapel (1958). His work there is generally highly regarded and may have been instrumental in bringing the firm work at Mount Allison University in the sixties.

This piece, believed to be "St. Francis of Assisi and Other Saints" was brought into a Hamilton repair shop in the late 80’s in need of a new head for the Saint.
The head was not completed until 2009 and the piece was never called for by the original customer.
It was said at the time it was left for repair, to be church work done by McElcheran. The artist’s name and the title were written on the back of the piece at that time by the repair shop.
It has been sitting in storage since the late 1980’s.

It is the mystery sculpture.




Arthur Greenblatt, Dundas Valley School of Art