Studio reopens after five-month renovation project

Thanks to Angus Council, which manages the building, an outbreak of dry rot has been dealt with, a new heating system has been installed and a variety of other repairs carried out.

The Friends of the Studio, who open it to the public, have become partners with the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) in their 200 th anniversary year, and this will see the return on loan of Lamb’s bronze ‘The Young Fisherman, which they purchased in 1946.

Lamb exhibited sculptures and etchings at the RSA every year from 1924 till his death in 1951, and most of these sculptures can be seen in the Studio.

These include the three Royal heads – depicting Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret – and the poets Hugh McDiarmid and Violet Jacob.

Also on display are Lamb’s Guthrie award, his Associateship of the RSA and his self- portrait, and portraits by David Foggie and Agnes Sim.

Work will also soon begin on the installation of Lamb’s bronze ‘My model listens to a tall story’, which will be sited in the studio courtyard alongside its partner ‘Le Paresseux’, both of which had David Findlay as models.

It has not been in the Studio since 1994.

Educated in Montrose, Lamb was originally apprenticed into the family firm of monumental masons. He became interested in art and attended evening classes at Montrose Academy and moved to Aberdeen to work and to attend Gray's School of Art after completing his apprenticeship.

Lamb volunteered in 1915, and served in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. A right-handed artist, a war wound meant that he had to retrain using his left hand. As well as a sculptor, he was also a print maker and later a water colourist.

The studio, on Trades Close, will reopen on Friday and thereafter will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 2pm-4pm until August 29. Free entry but donations are welcome. Further information at www.friendswilliamlambstudio.uk.