William Wallace Anderson (20 January 1888 – 7 October 1975), invariably known as Wallace Anderson or W. Wallace Anderson, was an Australian art teacher and sculptor, known for memorials at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

, Canberra and throughout Victoria.

History

Anderson was born in

Dean, Victoria Dean is a small township in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the Shire of Hepburn west of the state capital, Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Aust ...

, third child and twin son of William Anderson, MLA and his wife Helen Glover, née Naples. He was educated at

Geelong College , motto_translation = Thus one goes to the stars , established = , type = Independent, co-educational, day and boarding, Christian school , denomination = in association with the Uniting ...

and

Gordon Technical College The Gordon Institute of TAFE is the Technical and Further Education institute predominantly servicing the wider Geelong area. The Gordon opened in 1887 and celebrated 130 years of providing education in 2017. The Gordon provides education ...

, taking art classes part-time with J. R. Tranthim-Fryer (died 13 July 1928) and Charles Richardson, later conducting classes himself. Anderson enlisted with the

First AIF The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

in June 1915. His elder brother, Albert Naples Anderson, enlisted in December 1914, fought at Gallipoli and was wounded at Lone Pine. He was repatriated, then in January 1917 re-enlisted with the 8th Light Horse in Egypt and was killed in action in April 1917. Anderson served in France as a lieutenant in the 23rd Battalion, and in 1918 was attached to the Australian War Records Section, London, along with sculptors W. Leslie Bowles and C. Web Gilbert, and toured battlefields in France, Egypt and Palestine, making sketches and notes for later reference. In 1920 he returned to Melbourne, working for the Australian War Museum, Canberra, producing the intricate figures for several of the battlefield

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

s, then from 1930 was engaged in work for other clients. Well-known public pieces include: *Bronze frieze on memorial stone (1930) at Ararat *"The Man and His Donkey" (1936), elsewhere named as

John Simpson Kirkpatrick John Kirkpatrick (enlisted as John Simpson; 6 July 1892 – 19 May 1915) was a stretcher bearer with the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance brigade during the Gallipoli campaign – the Allied attempt to capture Constantinople, ca ...

at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne *"King George V" (1937), in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

*Series of nine busts of Australian prime ministers, in the Botanic Gardens, Ballarat. Anderson was a member of the

Australian Academy of Art The Australian Academy of Art was a conservative Australian government-authorised art organisation which operated for ten years between 1937 and 1946 and staged annual exhibitions. Its demise resulted from opposition by Modernist artists, especiall ...

, Australian Sculptors' Society, Victorian Artists Society, and the

Victorian Sculptors' Society The Victorian Sculptors' Society was an arts organisation formed in Victoria, Australia in 1948. History The society had two predecessors: *The Yarra Sculptors' Society was founded in 1898 by Margaret Baskerville and her husband Douglas Richards ...

, and exhibited regularly.

Family

Anderson married Gladys Ada Andrews (died 25 September 1952) on 6 May 1916. They had a son Rod Anderson and daughters Lucie Cleary and Joy Bleakley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Wallace 1888 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Australian sculptors Australian male sculptors

History

Family

See also

References