Frances Loring & Florence Wyle

Frances Loring (1887–1968) was instrumental in expanding the role of women in art in Canada. Born in Wardner, Idaho, Loring showed an early interest for sculpture. She studied in Geneva, Munich and Paris before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago. Florence Wyle (1881–1968) was born in Trenton, Illinois and in 1900 enrolled at the University of Illinois as a medical student where she studied anatomy. Three years later, she transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago where she began studying clay modelling with Lorado Taft and it was there that she met Frances Loring who became her lifelong partner and professional collaborator. Wyle shared a studio with Loring in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1909 before they decided to move to Toronto in Canada around 1913. There, they became known as “The Girls”.