William McElcheran Sculpture

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The bronze statue in front of the John M. Kelly library was created by renowned Canadian sculptor William McElcheran. Measuring 142 cm in height, 345 cm in width, and 35 in depth, it leaves a big impression on passers-by. The statue was unveiled on June 6, 1973. 

From the street, one sees a crowd of people in competition and striving for something. The side facing the entrance of the library is composed of historical figures facing the library and engaged in conversation. 

McElcheran deliberately included the faces of many contemporary and ancient scholars and teachers. Some of these individuals, such as Einstein or Gandhi, are easy to make out.

From left to right, you can see the following figures:

  • James Joyce 
  • Stephen Leacock
  • T. S. Eliot
  • Geoffrey Chaucer 
  • Marshall McLuhan 
  • Dante Alighieri 
  • Germaine de Staël 
  • George Bernard Shaw 
  • George Sand 
  • Leo Tolstoy 
  • William Shakespeare 
  • Sigmund Freud 
  • Jean-Paul Sartre 
  • Rene Descartes 
  • Etienne Gilson 
  • Søren Kierkegaard 
  • Georg Hegel 
  • Immanuel Kant 
  • Eugène Ionescu 
  • Jacques Maritain 
  • St. Thomas Aquinas 
  • Sir Isaac Newton 
  • St. Theresa of Avila 
  • St. Augustine 
  • Albert Einsten 
  • Eldridge Cleaver 
  • John Henry Newman 
  • Barbara Ward 
  • Karl Marx 
  • Charles Darwin 
  • Mahatma Gandhi 
  • Herman Kahn 
Learn more about the William McElcheran sculpture

Contact us at 416-926-7114 or kelly.library@utoronto.ca