Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1921 Trieste, Italy

Died: 2004 Peralta, Italy

Year of Migration to the UK: 1949

Other name/s: Maria Fiore de Henriquez, Fiore de Henriques, Fiore Henriquez

Biography

Sculptor Fiore de Henriquez was born in Trieste, Italy on 20 June 1921. Her father was descended from Spanish nobility connected to the Habsburg court, while her mother was of Turkish-Russian descent. Raised in a turbulent era, her family faced Mussolini’s Italianisation policies, resulting in her father’s exile for refusing to change his name. Initially aligned with the Fascist youth movement, de Henriquez later opposed the regime, aiding partisans and Jewish refugees during the Second World War and escaping German captivity. Initially studying philosophy and literature at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, de Henriquez discovered her passion for sculpture by chance while helping art students knead clay. This led her to the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where she trained under Arturo Martini from 1939–42 and in Florence under Antonio Berti, who guided her artistic development.

Her career began in postwar Italy, with her first exhibition in Florence in 1947. Two years later, her civic monument in Salerno, a tribute to Don Giovanni Cuomo, was destroyed at its unveiling by opponents rejecting work by a female artist. Disheartened, de Henriquez left Italy for England in 1949. In London, her talent quickly gained recognition. Her portrait of Scottish sculptor and Royal Academician, Sir William Reid Dick, secured her a place at the Royal Academy Schools, leading to a commission for the 1951 Festival of Britain, creating monumental sculptures for the travelling Land exhibition in Leeds. In 1953, she featured in an exhibition at the Hanover Gallery (established by émigré, Erica Brausen in 1948), where her bronze of Augustus John was reviewed as ‘quite tremendous,’ the self-portrait as having a ‘lively serenity,’ and her five terracotta children as ‘a superb technical achievement’ ( The Scotsman 1953). In the same year, a petition signed by leading British intellectuals granted her British citizenship, cementing her status as a prominent artist. She exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1950 and 1955. During this period, she completed over 500 portrait commissions, depicting notables such as Augustus John, Peter Ustinov, Margot Fonteyn, Laurence Olivier, and Vivien Leigh. She also made portraits of historical composers, including Stravinsky, Strauss, Mahler, and Mozart, revealing her ability to capture artistic genius. In 1956 she exhibited with the New English Art Club, reviewed in the Jewish Chronicle (2 November 1956).

While de Henriquez's public success flourished, her deeply personal voyage of self-discovery and her unique perspective on identity profoundly influenced her art. Her artistic journey was shaped by her intersex identity, which she openly embraced. She described herself as ‘proud to be hermaphrodite’, a condition she regarded as a unique gift, stating, ‘If God made me hermaphrodite, that is how I stay’ (Guardian). This duality manifested in her work through recurring themes of androgyny, conjoined figures, and ambiguous creatures. This unique perspective became a cornerstone of her creative process, which reflected the interplay of contrasting elements, moving between the ‘feminine’ pliability of clay and wax to the ‘masculine’ rigidity of plaster and bronze. Her works often displayed spiralling volumes, rough surfaces, and an ambitious balance on narrow bases, drawing comparisons to Elisabeth Frink’s unsettling figural forms. Her practice was characterised by an instinctive approach and adherence to traditional materials. She observed: ‘The moment I embrace a piece of clay to make a sculpture, I think of how it's going to grow [...] From feminine to masculine, over and again’ (Wolseley Fine Art). This method produced dynamic works that explored themes of transformation and identity, resonating with the complexities of her own existence.

In the 1950s, she began touring North America, lecturing on sculpture. In 1963, she was commissioned to create a portrait of President John F. Kennedy; following his assassination, she completed the monumental head using film footage as reference. She maintained a studio in London but frequently worked in Tuscany. In 1966, she purchased and restored the hamlet of Peralta, transforming it into a haven for artists and writers. Despite her prolific output, de Henriquez rarely exhibited her work. She preferred to focus on her craft, which included both commissioned portraits and free artistic expressions. Among her notable later works is a full statue of Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck in his desert uniform, installed on Broad Street, Birmingham. She also sculpted Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother, whose likenesses are displayed aboard HMS Ark Royal and in a hospital in northern England, respectively. In the 1980s, she worked extensively in the Far East. Her works also included a fountain for the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva and portraits of Italian luminaries including Eugenio Montale and Carlo Levi. Fiore de Henriquez died in Peralta, Italy, on 5 June 2004. In the UK public domain her work is represented in Tenby Museum & Art Gallery and University of Bristol Theatre Collection, among others. Her sculptures also feature at Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire, historic seat of the Sitwell family. In 2004, a memorial exhibition was held at Wolseley Fine Arts, London and her biographer was interviewed on Women's Hour on BBC Radio.

Related books

Jan Marsh, Art & Androgyny: the Life of Sculptor Fiore de Henriquez (England: The Book Mill, 2015)
‘Flore de Henriquez’, The Times, 28 June 2004, p. 24
‘Art’, Country Life, 24 June 1999, p. 138
Jeremy Musson, ‘Heads Together in Chelsea’, Country Life, 4 November 1999, p. 134
‘Sculptress Who Fell in Love with England’, Liverpool Daily Post, 24 October 1959, p. 6
‘Intriguing Talent Now Being Patronised by Princess Margaret’, Daily Express, 26 February 1959, p. 3
Paintings by Johannes Schiefer, Sculpture by Fiore de Henriquez, exhibition catalogue (New York: Leonard Hutton Galleries, 1959)
‘Woman…with a Future’, Sunday Express, 19 May 1957, p. 12
‘Modelled from Life’, The Sketch, 5 May 1954, p. 19
‘Fiore de Henriquez Modelling a Portrait of Christopher Osborn, Son of Pianist Franz Osborn. Photograph by Barry Swathe’, The Tatler, 3 February 1954, p. 21
‘London Art Exhibitions’, The Scotsman, 19 September 1953, p. 10

Related organisations

Accademia di Belle Arti, Venice (student)

Selected exhibitions

Bronzes by Fiore de Henriquez, Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire (2005)
Memorial Exhibition, Wolseley Fine Arts, London (2004)
Solo exhibition, Cadogan Square, London (1999)
Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition (1955, 1950)
Solo exhibition, Hanover Gallery, London (1953)
Festival of Britain Land Exhibition, Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, Yorkshire (1951)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Fiore de Henriquez]