William Reid Dick (1879-1961)
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. He was born in Glasgow on 13 January 1879. He was apprenticed to a stonemason when he was twelve and during the next five years he learned to carve stone at work, and at night took drawing and modelling classes. In 1907, he graduated from the Glasgow School of Art.
The life of William Reid Dick
In the years between 1933 and 1938 he held office as president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. The Royal British Society of Sculptors is mentioned the most important art academy of England and was founded in 1904. He was knighted by George V. in the year 1935. Sir William Reid Dick was Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland to George VI, starting in 1938 and ending with his death. Reid Dick designed several war memorials and received a major commission for the Kitchener Memorial Chapel (1922-5) in St Paul`s Cathedral, London.
Influences on his works
The memorial includes a Pieta and the figures of the Warrior Saints St Michael and St George and a recumbent Lord Kitchener in white marble, all the work of Reid Dick. The focal point of his design for the chapel was a Piéta, which won a gold medal at the Paris International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in 1925. He also made the bronze sculpture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George V, situated at the Londoner Grosvenor Square and at the House of Lords. His archives are held by the Tate Gallery. He was buried in St. Paul`s Cathedral after he died in 1961. Sir William Reid Dick, whose heritage and archive is housed at the Tate Gallery, was a famous sculptor, well-known for his portrays. He created the sculpture by the Blackfriars Bridge in London as well as the sculpture "Boy with Frog" and the eagle on top of the Royal Air Force Monument.