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William Reid Dick
William Reid Dick by Philippe Ledoux.jpg
Portrait of William Reid Dick, 1934, by Philippe Ledoux
Born 13 January 1878
Glasgow, Scotland
Died 1 October 1961(1961-10-01) (aged 83)
Maida Vale, London, England
Alma mater
  • Glasgow School of Art
  • South London Technical School of Art
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

Early life

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. 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. 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. In 1907, he graduated and accepted a teaching position at the Bellshill Academy in Lanarkshire but moved to London in 1908. 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. Also in 1908, Dick had his first work exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. He earned further recognition in 1911 with a marble bust of Harry Lauder which was also shown at the Royal Academy.

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.

World War I

Westminster king george v statue 1
Statue of King George V by William Reid Dick, outside Westminster Abbey, London. (January 2006)

In September 1914 Dick joined the Territorial Army and from 1915 to 1919 served with the Royal Engineers in both France and Palestine. 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. 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. While serving in northern France, Dick produced a number of small statuettes by using the local clay deposits.

Post-war career

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. He received a major commission for the Kitchener Memorial Chapel (1922–25) in St Paul's Cathedral, London. 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. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. In 1935 Dick was Knighted and elected President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, a post he held until 1938. 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. 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.

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. Dick was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1939. 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).

Dick died at his home in Maida Vale and was cremated at Golders Green crematorium. In October 1963 a memorial tablet to him was unveiled in the crypt of St Pauls' Cathedral. His archives are held by the Tate Gallery.

Public works

1920–1929

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
Rickmansworth War Memorial 1296164 (5).jpg War memorial Churchyard of St Mary's, Rickmansworth 1921 Cenotaph with sculptures of Grief & Victory Stone 4.3m tall Grade II Q26583838
Rickmansworth Lion and Eagle 9 1.jpg 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.
Bushey War Memorial 7 1.jpg War memorial Bushey, Hertfordshire 1922 Sculpture Stone 4.1m tall Grade II Q26397596
Eagle on Royal Air Force Memorial, London - geograph.org.uk - 1409640.jpg Royal Air Force war memorial Victoria Embankment, London 1923 Sculpture on pillar Bronze and stone Grade II* Q7373614 Architect: Sir Reginald Blomfield.
Pietà, All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral.jpg Pietà All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral, London 1925 Sculpture group on altar Portland stone
Lord Kitchener's tomb, St Paul's Cathedral, London.JPG Lord Kitchener All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral, London 1925 Effigy on tomb chest Marble
St Michael & St George All Souls' Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral, London c. 1925 Two statues
Menin-gate-ypres-belgium.redvers.jpg Menin Gate Ypres, Belgium 1927 Decoration & sculpture Stone Q1822397 Architect: Reginald Blomfield.

1930–1939

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Statue outside Lady Lever Art Gallery Port Sunlight - geograph.org.uk - 728804.jpg Leverhulme Memorial Port Sunlight, Merseyside 1930 Obelisk with sculpture group Granite and bronze Grade II Q15979036 Architect, James Lomax-Simpson.
Welcome-statue.jpg The Spirit of Welcome Nottingham Council House, Nottingham 1931 Statue Bronze Grade II*
Controlled Energy Unilever House, London 1932 Two sculpture groups Stone Grade II
Arras Memorial 100.jpg Arras Memorial Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, France 1932 Sculpture & decoration Q2782982 Architect, Edwin Lutyens.
Arras Flying Services Memorial -3.jpg Arras Flying Services Memorial Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, France 1932 Obelisk and globe Stone Q2674251 Architect, Edwin Lutyens
David Livingstone memorial at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.jpg Statue of David Livingstone Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe 1934 Statue 3.6m tall
Lord Irwin (Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax), Viceroy of India (1926-1931).JPG Lord Irwin Coronation Park, Delhi 1934 Statue on pedestal Stone and red sandstone Red sandstone pedestal designed by Edwin Lutyens
A Lords' statue.JPG 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
Boy and Frog, Queen Mary's Gardens, Regent's Park.JPG Boy with a Frog Queen Mary's Garden, Regent's Park, London 1936 Sculpture and fountain Bronze and marble Grade II Q26521530
Soane Bank of England statue.jpg John Soane Lothbury facade, Bank of England, City of London 1930–1937 Statue in alcove Portland stone Q30410805 Architect, Herbert Baker.
Child and Bird Sculpture on 27 Poultry, City of London.jpg Boy with Goose 27 Poultry, City of London 1936–1937 Two sculptures Stone Grade I Architect, Edwin Lutyens.
London - Adelaide House (1).jpg Untitled Adelaide House, King William Street, London 1936-37 Statue with globe Granite and bronze
Art & Science, Selfridges 02.jpg Art and Science Selfridges, Oxford Street, London 1936-37 Two Statues Bronze Grade II*
The Herald by William Reid Dick, 85 Fleet Street.jpg The Herald 85 Fleet Street, London 1938–1939 Sculpture Bronze 1.9m high Grade II Architect, Edwin Lutyens.
George V Reid Dick Howard Davis Park Jersey 3.jpg 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.
Tomb of King George V and Queen Mary.jpg King George V and Queen Mary St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 1939 and later Chest tomb effigies Marble Grade I

1940 and later

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
Franklin D Roosevelt statue, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow - DSC06230.JPG Franklin Delano Roosevelt Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow c. 1946 Statue Bronze
King George V statue, Old Palace Yard, Westminster - DSC08121.JPG Statue of George V Old Palace Yard, London 1947 Statue on pedestal Portland stone 3m tall Grade II Q7604483 Architect, Giles Gilbert Scott.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt 4897650617.jpg Franklin Delano Roosevelt Grosvenor Square, London 1948 Statue on pedestal Bronze and stone 3m tall Grade II Q25339025
Horlicks Limited War Memorial Stoke Poges Lane, Slough 1949 Sculpture on pedestal Bronze and limestone Grade II Q66479528
Self Sacrifice, Lady Godiva Broadgate, Coventry 1949 Statue on pedestal Bronze and Portland stone Grade II* Q17540305
Memorial to Queen Mary, Marlborough Road.jpg Queen Mary Marlborough Road, The Mall, London 1967 Portrait medallion Stone and slate Q27950126

Other works

Several public galleries, including the Tate in Britain and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, hold collections of works by Dick.

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