The life and work of Angus artist and sculptor William Lamb is to be immortalised in print for the first time.
Researched and written over several years by retired Montrose businessman John Stansfeld, the work will be published by Edinburgh publishing house Birlinn.
This is the first book to be written about the largely forgotten William Lamb, who was arguably one of the most important Scottish sculptors of the 20th century.
In 1932 Lamb was commissioned by the Queen Mother, who was then Duchess of York, and who was born at Glamis Castle, to model portrait heads of her daughters, the princesses Elizabeth, now the Queen, and Margaret.
Impressed by his skill, the duchess also commissioned Lamb to produce a portrait of herself.
Mr Stansfeld has always known and loved the works of William Lamb, and he long recognised that the artist’s standing deserved to be recorded in a book.
A lucky “tip-off” pointed him in the direction of one of Lamb’s great friends, Mildred (known as Ray) Simm, then living in Orkney. She had gathered together an archive of Lamb material including around 400 letters, cuttings, accounts, diaries and other items.
After an exchange of letters, Mr Stansfeld and Ray were able to meet and she passed on her collection to him, with encouragement to write Lamb’s biography.
A lot of further research took several years for Mr Stansfeld to complete, and Ray was able to read the first chapters shortly before she died in 2005, aged 105. The book is dedicated to her memory.
Mr Stansfeld said: “As soon as I saw all the material collected together by Ray Simm I realised that here was a truly fascinating life story of a very major, if unsung, Scottish sculptor.
“Lamb was a man who overcame many adversities to become pre-eminent in the Scottish art establishment.
“I hope that this book will go some way to rediscovering the man and re-establishing his place in Scottish art history.”
William Lamb died in 1951 in relative obscurity in his native Montrose and it was his wish that the studio should be left as his memorial gift.
His sister, Miss Caroline Lamb, adhering to his wishes, passed the studio and its contents to Montrose Town Council. The building was laid out as a permanent exhibition of Lamb’s work and opened in 1955 as a memorial to him.
Sponsorship for the book is being provided by Montrose Heritage Trust and the Friends of William Lamb.
Edinburgh art historian Professor Duncan Macmillan, author of Scottish Art 14602000, has written an introduction to the new book, production of which is well under way.
It will be launched at the Royal Scottish Academy at the end of September. This will be followed by a second event in Montrose.
Andrew Orr, of Montrose Heritage Trust, said: “This is exactly the sort of project that we like to support as we feel that William Lamb is a huge cultural asset to Montrose, to Angus and to Scotland.
“This interesting and beautifully illustrated book will go a long way to promoting visitors to the town, to the sculpture trail and the Lamb collection.”
Kitty Ritchie, of the Friends of William Lamb, said: “Our group is dedicated to keeping alive the memory and reputation of William Lamb and we have been greatly looking forward to the completion of this book. It will help enormously with the success of the William Lamb Memorial Studio here in Montrose.”