Girl Reading

Artist Henry Lamb (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 1883 - 1960)

Date1939

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 60.5 cm, Width: 50.5 cm
Frame: Height: 76.5 cm, Width: 67 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1940 with income from the Macdonald Bequest.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG002275

Keywords

About MeHenry Lamb was an Australian-born British painter and a founder member of the Camden Town Group. He became close friends with Augustus John and Lytton Strachey, whose portrait he painted. For a time, Lamb and John lived together with Dorelia McNeill at Alderney Manor near Poole. In 1913 Lamb met Stanley Spencer and was immediately impressed by his visionary paintings.

On the outbreak of the First World War Lamb and Stanley Spencer joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the War Lamb became a much sought-after portrait painter. It is easy to see why when looking at this gentle, colourful depiction of a young girl reading. This picture dates from 1939 so must be one of the last he painted during this period as shortly afterwards, at the outbreak of the Second World War, Lamb became an official war artist, concentrating on portraits of soldiers and airmen stationed in England.