William Dick | |
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![]() Portrait of William Reid Dick, 1934, by Philippe Ledoux | |
Born | 13 January 1878 Glasgow, Scotland |
Died | 1 October 1961 Maida Vale, London, England | (aged 83)
Alma mater | |
Known for | Sculpture |
Sir William Reid Dick, KCVO RA (13 January 1878 – 1 October 1961) was a Scottish sculptor known for his innovative stylisation of form in his monument sculptures and simplicity in his portraits. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1921 and a Royal Academician in 1928. Dick served as president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors from 1933 to 1938. He was knighted by King George V in 1935. He was Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland to King George VI from 1938 to 1952, then held the post under Queen Elizabeth until his death in 1961.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Born into a working-class family in the Gorbals, Glasgow, Dick was apprenticed to a firm of stonemasons at the age of twelve and during the next five years he learned to carve stone and took evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art.[1] In 1892, under the supervision of George Frampton, Dick worked on some of the external carvings for the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and completed his apprenticeship in 1896.[2][1] From 1904 to 1907, Dick returned to the Glasgow School of Art to take a mixture of day and evening classes in drawing and sculpture.[1] In 1907, he graduated and accepted a teaching position at the Bellshill Academy in Lanarkshire but moved to London in 1908.[1] There Dick took evening classes at the South London Technical School of Art whilst working as a studio assistant for the sculptor Edwin Whitney-Smith.[1] Also in 1908, Dick had his first work exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.[3] He earned further recognition in 1911 with a marble bust of Harry Lauder which was also shown at the Royal Academy.[4]
In 1914 Dick married Catherine Emma Treadwell, with whom he had three children. The couple lived in the St John's Wood area of London until 1938 when they purchased a large house and studio in Maida Vale, where they lived for the rest of their lives.[4]
World War I
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In September 1914 Dick joined the Territorial Army and from 1915 to 1919 served with the Royal Engineers in both France and Palestine.[5] When Dick enlisted in September 1914 he joined the 5th London Field Ambulance section of the Royal Army Medical Corps and subsequently transferred to the 3rd Army Field Survey Co, part of the Royal Engineers and then the 7th Field Survey Co.[5][3] He was described as a photographer with the 7th Field Survey Co. His Army Service record shows his profession as "sculptor". He was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals.[3] While serving in northern France, Dick produced a number of small statuettes by using the local clay deposits.[6]
Post-war career
[edit]Dick designed several war memorials notably at Bushey, at Rickmansworth and the eagle sculpture atop the Royal Air Force Memorial on the Victoria Embankment in London.[3][4] He received a major commission for the Kitchener Memorial Chapel (1922–25) in St Paul's Cathedral, London.[4] The focal point of this design was a Pièta, which won a gold medal at the Paris International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in 1925. These works secured his reputation and election to the Royal Academy in 1928, having been elected an Associate member in 1921.[7][8] His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[9] In 1935 Dick was Knighted and elected President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, a post he held until 1938.[7][8] From 1938 to 1952 Dick served as King's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland and then, from 1952 until his death, Dick was the Queen's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland.[7][10][11] He attended numerous royal events and created several portraits and memorials to members of the Royal Family plus several busts of political and artistic figures of the time.[4][8]
Alongside the public monuments and memorials Dick created he also sculpted busts and statuettes which he exhibited on a regular basis at the Royal Academy, at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society and at the Paris Salon.[10] Dick was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1939.[11] Throughout his career, Dick served on numerous committees, among these the Royal Fine Art Commission (1928–42), the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (1936–53), and the Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery (1934–41).[3][11]
Dick died at his home in Maida Vale and was cremated at Golders Green crematorium.[4] In October 1963 a memorial tablet to him was unveiled in the crypt of St Pauls' Cathedral.[4] His archives are held by the Tate Gallery.[1][2]
Public works
[edit]1920–1929
[edit]Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Angus Watson and Co Ltd war memorial | Ellison Buildings, Newcastle upon Tyne | 1920 | Plaque | Bronze | [12] | ||||
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War memorial | Churchyard of St Mary's, Rickmansworth | 1921 | Cenotaph with sculptures of Grief & Victory | Stone | 4.3m tall | Grade II | Q26583838 | [13][14] |
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War memorial | Council Office Gardens, Rickmansworth | 1921 | Statue on plinth | Bronze and brick | Grade II | Q26631648 | Originally part of the Rickmansworth war memorial, relocated 1978.[15][16] | |
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War memorial | Bushey, Hertfordshire | 1922 | Sculpture | Stone | 4.1m tall | Grade II | Q26397596 | [17][18][19] |
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Royal Air Force war memorial | Victoria Embankment, London | 1923 | Sculpture on pillar | Bronze and stone | Grade II* | Q7373614 | Architect: Sir Reginald Blomfield.[19][6][20][21] | |
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Pietà | All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral, London | 1925 | Sculpture group on altar | Portland stone | [19][22][23][24][25] | |||
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Lord Kitchener | All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral, London | 1925 | Effigy on tomb chest | Marble | [19][22][23][26][27] | |||
St Michael & St George | All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral, London | c. 1925 | Two statues | [19][22][23][28] | |||||
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Menin Gate | Ypres, Belgium | 1927 | Decoration & sculpture | Stone | Q1822397 | Architect: Reginald Blomfield.[29] |
1930–1939
[edit]Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
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Leverhulme Memorial | Port Sunlight, Merseyside | 1930 | Obelisk with sculpture group | Granite and bronze | Grade II | Q15979036 | Architect, James Lomax-Simpson.[30][31][32][33] | |
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The Spirit of Welcome | Nottingham Council House, Nottingham | 1931 | Statue | Bronze | Grade II* | [34] | ||
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Controlled Energy | Unilever House, London | 1932 | Two sculpture groups | Stone | Grade II | [32][4][35][36] | ||
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Arras Memorial | Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, France | 1932 | Sculpture and decoration | Q2782982 | Architect, Edwin Lutyens.[37] | |||
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Arras Flying Services Memorial | Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, France | 1932 | Obelisk and globe | Stone | Q2674251 | Architect, Edwin Lutyens | ||
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Statue of David Livingstone | Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe | 1934 | Statue | 3.6m tall | Q108044157 | [4][11][26] | ||
Lord Irwin | Coronation Park, Delhi | 1934 | Statue on pedestal | Stone and red sandstone | Red sandstone pedestal designed by Edwin Lutyens[38] | ||||
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Earl of Willingdon | Coronation Park, Delhi | 1936 | Statue on pedestal | Stone and red sandstone | Q105436289 | A bronze version of the statue, from 1936, is sited at the Chennai Fort Museum[26][39][40][38] | ||
Boy with a Frog | Queen Mary's Garden, Regent's Park, London | 1936 | Sculpture and fountain | Bronze and marble | Grade II | Q26521530 | [41] | ||
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John Soane | Lothbury facade, Bank of England, City of London | 1930–1937 | Statue in alcove | Portland stone | Q30410805 | Architect, Herbert Baker.[42][43] | ||
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Boy with Goose | 27 Poultry, City of London | 1936–1937 | Two sculptures | Stone | Grade I | Architect, Edwin Lutyens.[44] | ||
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Untitled | Adelaide House, King William Street, London | 1936–1937 | Statue with globe | Granite and bronze | Grade II | [45] | ||
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Art and Science | Selfridges, Oxford Street, London | 1936–1937 | Two statues | Bronze | Grade II* | [4][46][47] | ||
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The Herald | 85 Fleet Street, London | 1938–1939 | Sculpture | Bronze | 1.9m high | Grade II | Architect, Edwin Lutyens.[48][49] | |
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George V | Howard Davis Park, Jersey | 1939 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Q99528341 | Completed by Dick following death of sculptor Francis William Doyle Jones in June 1938.[50] | ||
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King George V and Queen Mary | St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | 1939 and later | Chest tomb effigies | Marble | Grade I | [51] |
1940 and later
[edit]Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Franklin Delano Roosevelt | Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow | c. 1946 | Statue | Bronze | [52] | ||||
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Statue of George V | Old Palace Yard, London | 1947 | Statue on pedestal | Portland stone | 3m tall | Grade II | Q7604483 | Architect, Giles Gilbert Scott.[30][53][26] |
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt | Grosvenor Square, London | 1948 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | 3m tall | Grade II | Q25339025 | [54][26] |
Horlicks Limited War Memorial | Stoke Poges Lane, Slough | 1949 | Sculpture on pedestal | Bronze and limestone | Grade II | Q66479528 | [55][56] | ||
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Self Sacrifice, Lady Godiva | Broadgate, Coventry | 1949 | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and Portland stone | Grade II* | Q17540305 | [30][57] | |
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Queen Mary | Marlborough Road, The Mall, London | 1967 | Portrait medallion | Stone and slate | Q27950126 | [30] |
Other works
[edit]- Bust of Lady Rhoda Birley in 1908?.[58]
- A series of figures for St Andrew's House in Edinburgh, 1939, representing Architecture, Statecraft, Health, Agriculture, Fisheries and Education[4][59]
- Harry Dwight Ripley Monument, St. Marylebone Cemetery and Crematorium.[60]
- Bronze bust of Winston Churchill, 1943.[4]
- A bust of George V for the Mansion House in London.[11]
- A marble bust of Edwin Lutyens, 1932, for the Marble Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi[38]
- Bust of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in Bolton Town Hall, c. 1946[61]
- Bust of Adelaide Stoll, London Coliseum[62]
Several public galleries, including the Tate in Britain and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, hold collections of works by Dick.[63][64]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Sir William Reid Dick RA, HRSA, KCVO". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b Gary Nisbet. "Sir William Reid Dick (1879–1961)". Glasgow – City of Sculpture. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Dick, Sir William Reid (1879–1961) Knight Sculptor". The National Archives. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Dick, Sir William Reid". The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Reid Dick's Service Record WO 363/MIS-SORTS 34/52", "Burnt Records" series, National Archives, UK
- ^ a b Patricia R. Andrew (2014). Chism In Time Scottish War Art and Artists in the Twentieth Century. Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78027-190-3.
- ^ a b c Frances Spalding (1990). 20th Century Painters and Sculptors. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1-85149-106-6.
- ^ a b c James Mackay (1977). The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 0902028553.
- ^ "William Reid Dick". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ a b David Buckman (2006). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0-953260-95-X.
- ^ a b c d e "Dick, William Reid (Sir)". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 31 October 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00051122. ISBN 978-0-19-977378-7. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ "War Memorials Register: Angus Watson and Co Ltd". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "War Memorials Register: Rickmansworth Cenotaph". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "War Memorial about 40m East of Church of St Mary (1296164)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "War Memorials Register: Rickmansworth". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "War Memorial statue (1348251)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "War Memorials Register: Bushey". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "The War Memorial at junction with School Lane (1103581)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Derek Boorman (1988). At the Going Down of the Sun: British First World War Memorials. William Sessions Limited. ISBN 1-85072-041-X.
- ^ "War Memorials Register: Royal Air Force". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "The Royal Air Force Memorial, Whitehall Stairs (1066171)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b c "The Chapels". St Paul's Cathedral. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ a b c "War Memorials Register: Field Marshal Earl Kitchener". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Pietà and Dancing Putti". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Kitchener Memorial". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e John Blackwood (1989). London's Immortels. The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues. Savoy Press. ISBN 0951429604.
- ^ "Effigy, Kitchener Memorial". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "Kitchener Memorial". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "The Menin Gate Memorial". Commonwealth Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d Jo Darke (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales. Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 0-356-17609-6.
- ^ Historic England. "Leverhulme Memorial at junction with Queen Mary's Drive (1075393)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Sketch for Leverhulme Memorial (Port Sunlight) c. 1930". Tate. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Sketch for Memorial Group c. 1928". Tate. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ Elain Harwood, ed. (2019). Art Deco Britain: Buildings of the interwar years. Pavilion Books. ISBN 9781849945271.
- ^ "Controlled Energy sculptures". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Unilever House (1079108)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "The Arras Memorial". Commonwealth Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ^ a b c Mary Ann Steggles & Richard Barnes (2011). British Sculpture in India: New Views & Old Memories. Frontier Publishing. ISBN 9781872914411.
- ^ University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "The Earl of Willingdon, GMSI, GMIE, GCMG, GBE". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Marquess of Willingdon". Victorian Web. 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Historic England. "Boy with a frog fountain in south west segmnt of Queen Mary's Gardens east of West Lodge (1227629)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Statue of Sir John Soane". Victorian Web. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ^ "Statue of Sir John Soane". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Midland Bank (1064598)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "Adelaide House". Victorian Web. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ^ "Main Entrance, Selfridges Department Store". Victorian Web. 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Historic England. "Selfridges (1357436)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Historic England. "9, Salisbury Court EC4, 82–85, Fleet Street, EC4 (1064656)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "Herald". Victorian Web. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Francis William Doyle Jones". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Photograph of Sir William Reid Dick's effigies of King George V and Queen Mary,on their tomb". Tate. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Franklin Roosevelt". Glasgow museums. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ Historic England. "Statue of George V (1225528)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "Statue of President Roosevelt in centre of Square Gardens (1066737)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "War Memorials Register: Horlicks Limited war memorial". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "Horlicks War Memorial, Slough (1454798)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "Lady Godiva statue (1031589)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "'LADY RHODA BIRLEY', A REID DICK CARVED STONE BUST". www.christies.com. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Regent Road, St Andrew's House including Boundary Wall, Lamp standards and gates (Category A Listed Building) (LB27756)". Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ Harry Dwight Ripley Monument Victorian Web. Retrieved 21 November 2012
- ^ "Bust of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "Bust of Adelaide Stoll". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "Sir William Reid Dick". Tate. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ "William Reid Dick". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Wardleworth, Dennis (2013). William Reid Dick, Sculptor. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-3971-4.
External links
[edit] Media related to William Reid Dick at Wikimedia Commons