Betty Aaerens was born into a Jewish family in London in 1904, the eldest child of Abraham Shiezer, a Russian tailor, and Mary Bowman, English-born, of Russian-Polish descent. Aaerens exhibited as a sculptor in the 1930s, including works at the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts and the Ben Uri Gallery, and also worked as a commercial artist. Known also as Betty Taub after her marriage, her later career remains somewhat obscure, although she continued to create art, as suggested by her 1989 solo exhibition of small sculptures in Ruislip, Middlesex.
Sculptor Betty Aaerens (née Rebecca Shiezer) was born on 8 October 1904 in Mile End, London, and was the eldest child of Abraham Shiezer (later known as Aarons), who was born in Tulchyn, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), and who worked as a ‘Ladies-Tailor Cutter’. Her mother, Mary Bowman, was born in England and was of Russian-Polish descent. A possible reason for Rebecca being registered as "Scheizer" at birth could be that her parents only married later. The family moved to Manchester in 1914, where Aaerens and her siblings attended Manchester Jews School. During their time in the UK, the family name underwent several changes, from Shiezer to Aarons and, finally, to Aaerens, possibly influenced by their need to adapt to a new cultural environment and navigate xenophobia. Her siblings, Rachel (b. 1908), Jane (b. 1909), and Morris (b. 1910), also attended the school, all registered under the name ‘Shreizer’.
Aaerens pursued a career in sculpture and exhibited her works under the name ‘Betty Aaerens.’ In 1932, she exhibited with the Lancashire and Cheshire Artists' Exhibition, showcasing two works: Tanya and Portrait of a Youth. In 1934, she exhibited a plaster bust titled Noel at the 75th Spring Exhibition of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. This was later cast in bronze and acquired by Manchester Art Gallery for £35. Noel depicted Ernest Noel Barker, a customs timber inspector from Manchester's Jewish community, indicating Aaerens' close connection. Correspondence from 1934 shows that Aaerens used an address at 119 Elizabeth Street, Manchester, at that time. Shortly after the acquisition of the bust, Aaerens moved from Manchester to London. As Betty Aarens, she contributed Head of a Boy to the Annual Exhibition of Works by Jewish Artists at the Ben Uri Gallery in 1937, which was singled out in the Jewish Chronicle as one of the best pieces in the show.
Aaerens moved to London in 1934, where she continued her work as a commercial artist. Her name appeared in various forms over the years—Betty Aarons, Betty Aaerens, and Betty Kent—reflecting her varied artistic endeavours and changes in identity. In 1939, she was living at 10 Laura Place, Hackney, under the name ‘Betty Kent’, working as a commercial artist. Later that year, she married Henry Taub and was subsequently known as Betty Taub. The details of Aaerens' later career remain somewhat obscure, although she continued to create art and exhibited in 1951 at the Ben Uri Gallery, participating in the Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Sculptures by Contemporary Jewish Artists. She also held a solo exhibition, Small Sculptures by Betty Taub, at the Cow Byre, Ruislip Library, in 1989. Betty Aaerens died on 30 October 1994, at the age of 90, at 13 Harrold House, Finchley Road, London, England. Her death notice records her birthdate as 4 October 1904, likely an error, as both her Manchester school record and the 1939 Register confirm her birthdate as 8 October.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Betty Aaerens ]
Publications related to [Betty Aaerens ] in the Ben Uri Library