For the English cricketer, see Nick Lamb (cricketer).
Nick Lamb (born 1948 in Cambridge, England) is a sculptor specialising in the Japanese art form of netsuke. One of a handful of non-Japanese carvers of netsuke, Lamb has built a reputation since the 1980s as one of the best living practitioners of this art. He is known for meticulous, graceful carvings, typically of animals. His preferred medium for carving is boxwood. Lamb was born in 1948 in Cambridge, England, and educated at Berkshire College, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. He originally trained as a graphic designer, and was introduced to netsuke by someone who had seen a miniature carving he had done as a pastime. He began to carve full-time in 1988 and moved to the United States in 1995 to be closer to fellow carvers and netsuke collectors.
Lamb says of his own work, "I work principally in wood, a material expressive of the natural world and living subjects that have always drawn me. Although I do work on a large scale, I am most comfortable carving intricate miniature sculptures that convey the precious quality and fragile existence that wild animals possess. Whether mammals, fish, birds, or insects, I compose my work around graceful unifying lines suggesting the interconnectedness of all life. In part because I am not Japanese, I have been more free to stretch the boundaries of the netsuke art form, which, like many Asian art forms, is highly bound by conventions that evolve minimally over long periods of time. Since 2001, I have been developing stylistically away from the rather traditional forms I have been following. I continue to be influenced by Japanese design, but now investigate different ways in which to apply my personal aesthetic interpretation—my East-West hybrid—to larger format, particularly casting in bronze and stone-carving." Lamb has created larger scale work for Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, California, and the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana.
The group of non-Japanese netsuke carvers is small but distinguished and includes David Carlin, Clive Hallam, Janel Jacobson, Gerry Milazzo, Lynn Richardson, Leigh Sloggett, Gregg Stradiotto, and Sue Wraight, among others.
Lamb is represented by Stewart-Kummer Gallery in Gualala, California, and shows work at Japanese art venues worldwide. His work has been included in temporary exhibitions in the US and Japan, including the Museum of Arts & Design in New York city, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Bowers Museum in California. His work is in many private collections, including that of the Imperial Family of Japan, the Robin Lehman Collection, the Robert O. Kinsey Collection, and the Tokyo National Museum.
References
- Wilson, William (31 May 1994). "Art Review 'Contemporary Netsuke': No Small Feat The Japanese art of intricate miniature carving shows itself alive and thriving in some 150 examples at LACMA". Los Angeles Times. p. 12. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- "University of Wyoming Art Museum". Uwartmuseum.blogspot.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- "Nick Lamb Bio". Sculpture-intense.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- Wellendorf, Frank. "Nick Lamb - Deutsch-Linien.de → Alles zum Thema Deutsch". Deutsch-linien.de. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- "Stewart-Kummer Gallery". www.stewartkummergallery.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
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Lamb's work has been illustrated and/or cited in the following sources:
Blakely, Brad, “Peregrinations in Japan,” Netsuke Kenkyukai Journal (1990), 10: 2.
Kinsey, Robert O. Ojime; Magical Jewels of Japan. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991
Kinsey, Robert O., “Monkeys Galore,” Netsuke Kenkyukai Journal (1992), 12: 2.
Kinsey, Robert O., “Ojime Epilogue,” Netsuke Kenkyukai Journal (1993), 13: 1.
Yamazaki, Toshio et al., Treasured Miniatures: Contemporary Netsuke, exhibition catalog for show held at the British Museum, London, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1994
Kinsey, Robert O. and Miriam, “Contemporary Netsuke,” Miniature Sculpture from Japan and Beyond, exhibition catalog for show held at the Bowers Museum of Art, Santa Ana, California, 1997.
Welch, Matthew, and Sharen Chappell, Netsuke: The Japanese Art of Miniature Carving, exhibition catalog for show originating in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1998.
Miller, Dale S., “Netsuke Carver: Nick Lamb,” Daruma 19 (1998), p. 18.
Kinsey, Robert O. and Miriam Kinsey, “Mastering Matchless Materials,” Netsuke Kenkyukai Journal (1998), 18: 1.
Miller, Dale S., “Nick Lamb,” Netsuke Kenkyukai Journal (1998), 18: 1, pp. 45–48.
Kinsey, Robert O. and Miriam, “Nick Lamb’s Zodiac Animals 2000,” Netsuke Kenkyukai Journal, 19: 4 (1999), pp. 30–32.
Marsh, Elizabeth, “Early Carvings from Nick Lamb,” Euronetsuke (1999), no. 12, pp. 17–19.
Yamada, Toshio, Contemporary Netsuke, show catalog.
Lovelace, Joyce, “Contemporary Netsuke,” American Craft 60: 3 (2000), pp. 46–51.
Contemporary Netsuke: The Kinsey Collection, exhibition catalog for show held at Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan, 2001.
Contemporary Netsuke: HIH Prince Takamado Collection, exhibition catalog for show held at Salt and Tobacco Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 2003.
Kinsey, Robert O., The Poetry of Netsuke, Santa Barbara, CA: Perpetua Press, 2003.
Catalog for juried exhibition North American Sculpture Exhibition 2004, 3 April – 6 June 2004. Foothills Art Center, Golden, Colorado.
Gallery brochure for Netsuke: Miniature Art in the Palm of Your Hand; Contemporary Netsuke from the Price and Kinsey Collections. Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan, Washington, DC, 16 March – 29 May 2009.
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