William Lamb (artist)
| William Lamb | |
|---|---|
Self-portrait
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| Born |
William Lamb 1 June 1893 Montrose, Scotland |
| Died | 12 January 1951 (aged 57) Stracathro, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Movement | Realism, Scottish Renaissance |
William Lamb (1 June 1893 – 12 January 1951) was a Scottish sculptor and artist. He was a survivor of the “lost generation” who came of age in 1914, and was scarred, both mentally and physically, by the First World War.
Lamb completed his training in 1915 as a right-handed artist. A war wound incapacitated his right hand, so that after the war he had to retrain as a left-hander. His urge to create was in no way diminished and his preferred medium was sculpture.
Lamb's most productive period was from 1924 to 1933. As a result of an education on strictly traditional lines, he developed a style of modelling that was classically accurate, but which expressed the character and background of his subject. Although he modelled Queen Elizabeth II as Princess Elizabeth aged six, in 1932, he generally eschewed the rich, the famous and the heroic. Instead Lamb settled permanently in his native Montrose, Angus, Scotland, and sculpted the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, concentrating upon working class models, especially from the fishing community.
Fiercely independent, Lamb despised the young modernists and pre-war baroque fashions alike. He became isolated and developed severe depression around 1935/36, turning into something of a recluse. He never escaped poverty, never married and his work has been largely forgotten outside east central Scotland.
William Lamb was born on 1 June 1893 in Montrose, Scotland. He was educated in the town and apprenticed into the family firm of monumental masons. His childhood was overshadowed by the alcoholism of his father. At an early age he became interested in art and attended evening classes at Montrose Academy. He completed his apprenticeship in his craft, and then moved to Aberdeen to work and to attend Gray's School of Art (now part of Robert Gordon's University). He volunteered in 1915 and served in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. Lamb was wounded three times and the third wound, in August 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele, was a severe one, crippling his dominant right hand and arm. He convalesced in Montrose, and then in Edinburgh, where he received medical attention and attended Edinburgh College of Art. He learned to draw, paint, engrave and model with his left hand.
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