Sir William Reid Dick (1879-1961)

Of poignant historical significance, this bronze of President Roosevelt is a reduction of the Roosevelt Memorial in Grosvenor Square, London, which was funded by a subscription from the British public. It was unveiled on 12 April 1948 by Eleanor Roosevelt and dedicated by the U.S. Ambassador, Lewis W. Douglas in front of an audience including the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, and the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Winston Churchill. Reid Dick exhibited his study for the figure at the Royal Academy in 1949.

The Roosevelt Memorial is late in Reid Dick's career of monumental public sculpture, which began after the First World War and includes the eagle for the Royal Air Force memorial, Westminster, the lion for the Menin Gate at Ypres, Belgium (1927), and individual memorials to David Livingstone at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (model exh. RA, 1934) and George V in Westminster Abbey (models exh. RA, 1939 and 1941). Other notable sitters included Winston Churchill (bronze, exh. RA, 1943).