April 11, 1997
Manitoba Sculptor to Receive Province's Highest Honour
Manitoba Sculptor to Receive Province's Highest Honour Lifetime Commitment To World of Art Recognized
In recognition of his work and commitment to the world of art, renowned Manitoba sculptor Leo Mol will be inducted into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, the highest honour the province can bestow.
Premier Gary Filmon will present Mol with the rank of Provost of the Hunt at a testimonial dinner at the Hotel Fort Garry tomorrow evening.
"Dr. Mol has received many international accolades and his sculptures and artwork can be seen throughout the world," the premier said. "Many books and documentaries have been produced on his life and accomplishments. One only has to go to the Legislative Building grounds or Assiniboine Park to see examples of his remarkable work."
Noting that, over the years, Mol has sculpted some of the most famous people in the world, Filmon said, "He is an excellent ambassador for our province and a worthy recipient of this prestigious award."
Mol is a winner of numerous international competitions and has been commissioned to sculpt monuments in the United States, Argentina and in Brazil. He has sculpted portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, John Diefenbaker, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, and three popes, Paul VI, John XXIII, and John Paul II.
Mol's artwork can be found in galleries around the world. Some of them include: the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Ontario Art Gallery, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Calgary's Riveredge Foundation, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Vatican's Collection of Modern Religious Art, Rome's St. Clements University, and private and corporate collections throughout Canada, the United States, England, Germany, Italy and Holland.
In the summer of 1992, the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden opened in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park, featuring over 200 bronze sculptures from the artist's personal collection.
Apart from Mol's distinguished accomplishments in the field of sculpture, he has designed and executed more than 80 stained glass windows.
Born in Ukraine in 1915, Mol studied art in Leningrad, Berlin and The Hague, before moving to Manitoba in 1948. He has received honorary degrees from the universities of Winnipeg, Alberta, and Manitoba and was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1989.
Mol is a past president of the Manitoba Society of Artists, past vice-president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Allied Artists of America, the Münchener Kunstlergenossenschaft, Germany, and the Society of Ukrainian Artists in Diaspora.
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