National Library News December 1997 Vol. 29, no. 12

A Gift to the National Library of Canada

In Memory of Almuth Lutkenhaus-Lackey (1930-1996), S.C.A., S.S.C.

Early in 1997, Arthur Lackey contacted National Librarian Marianne Scott with a unique offer of three plaster maquettes created by his late wife, sculptor Almuth Lutkenhaus-Lackey. The maquettes, or preliminary models, represent Canadian authors Robertson Davies, Margaret Laurence and Dorothy Livesay, and their arrival at the the National Library of Canada fulfilled one of the sculptor's long-standing wishes.

Robertson Davies with Almuth Lutkenhaus-Lackey (photo: Doug Boult).

Almuth Lutkenhaus-Lackey was born in 1930 in Hamm, Germany. She studied for four years at the art colleges of Dortmund and Münster before emigrating to Canada in 1966. Best known for her life-size and over-life-size figures and for sculptured walls in public buildings, the artist created works that include Crucified Woman, which can be found outside Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto, and Solstice, located outside the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. She was sculptor-in-residence at the Ottawa School of Art from 1981 to 1984. The winner of many awards and grants, Almuth Lutkenhaus-Lackey leaves a rich legacy of work in public and private collections around the world.

Arthur Lackey with plaster maquettes for the bronze portraits of Dorothy Livesay, Margaret Laurence and Robertson Davies (photo: A. Paradis).

Accepted with pleasure by the National Librarian, the three plaster maquettes were delivered to the Library in mid-summer. They join Ms. Lutkenhaus-Lackey's bronze portrait of writer, painter and scholar Barker Fairley, which has been watching over those at work in the Library's Reference Room for many years.

Margaret Laurence with Margaret Laurence (photo: Doug Boult).

The bronze sculptures produced from the maquettes can be seen in Toronto and Peterborough, Ontario: Dorothy Livesay in the library of Trinity College, University of Toronto, where she studied in the 1920s; Robertson Davies in the Robertson Davies Library of University of Toronto's Massey College, of which he was the Master from 1963 to 1981; and Margaret Laurence in the library of Trent University, where she was writer-in-residence in 1974, and Chancellor from 1981 to 1983.