Percy Shakespeare: Blue plaque unveiled to remember artist

A blue plaque has been unveiled in commemoration of artist Percy Shakespeare.

The plaque has been placed on the façade of the former Dudley School of Art where he studied in the 1920s.

Shakespeare was born in the Kate's Hill area in 1906 and was killed during World War Two in a bombing raid in Brighton in 1943.

Councillor Anne Millward, the Mayor of Dudley, said it was a "privilege" to unveil the plaque.

Dudley Council said Shakespeare was remembered for his figure drawing technique, portraits and series of pictures depicting 1930s leisure activities - including a visit to the tropical bird house at Dudley Zoo.

He exhibited his oil paintings at the Royal Academy, Paris Salon, the Dudley Art Circle, and Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, and was elected Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 1936, the local authority said.

Ivo Shaw, the principal of Dudley Art School, called him "the best painter in oils the school has produced".

Mr Shaw's son, Robin, who wrote a biography of Shakespeare also attended the unveiling.

"My father would be delighted he is being remembered with a blue plaque," he said.

The plaque has been funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Dudley Council, through the Dudley Townscape Heritage programme.