Harry Weinberger was born into a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany in 1924. Fleeing anti-Semitic persecution, he arrived in England on the last Kindertransport in 1939 and initially trained and worked as an engineer before switching to art, after taking a life-class with Welsh painter Ceri Richards. Weinberger subsequently studied in London his main influence was fellow émigré painter and art teacher, Martin Bloch, through whom Weinberger developed his signature expressionist style, forging a career both as a painter and respected art teacher.
Painter Harry Weinberger was born on 7 April 1924 into a prosperous Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. His cousin, Heinz Koppel, with whom he was closely connected, also became a painter. Weinberger’s family were keen collectors, exposing him to art from a young age. Following the rise of National Socialism, however, the family moved to Czechoslovakia in 1933, but this only brought temporary respite, following the imposition of anti-Semitic legislation and Nazi Germany's territorial ambitions beyond its own borders.
Weinberger left Czechoslovakia for England with his sister, Ina, on the last Kindertransport in 1939, and after attending Amersham College, he became an apprentice toolmaker. He joined the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment in 1944, and subsequently transferred to the Jewish Brigade, serving in Italy. After the war, Weinberger briefly studied engineering in South Wales, where he also attended a life-class under Ceri Richards, and decided to focus on art. Inspired to draw and paint the surrounding Welsh landscape, he often returned to his sketches years later to transform them into finished works. Weinberger often refused to date his work, later causing confusion . Following a suggestion by Richards, Weinberger then enrolled at Chelsea School of Art in London, before moving to Goldsmiths School of Art.
While studying in London he met fellow émigré painter Martin Bloch, who also taught his cousin Heinz Koppel, and through whom Weinberger developed and established his signature style with an expressive use of line and colour. He was also inspired by Cubism, Fauvism and Post-Impressionism, citing Van Gogh and Matisse as potent influences. Between 1949 and 1956 Weinberger showed regularly with Ben Uri Gallery (often in the company of Bloch and Koppel), in the annual open exhibitions (1949, 1950 and 1952) and in the Coronation Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture (1953). In 1956 he held a solo show, Paintings and Watercolours by Harry Weinberger and featured in Ben Uri's Tercentenary Exhibition of Contemporary Anglo-Jewish Artists, celebrating the 300th anniversary of Oliver Cromwell's readmission of the Jews to England. In 1952 Weinberger had a solo show at the prestigious Leger Galleries, the Jewish Chronicle reviewer 'CSS' describing his style '[...] of Middle-European Expressionism, with hot colour and a nervous manner of drawing, is one much evident in Jewish artists with a similar background. He always paints himself, so to speak, his surroundings, his reactions' (Jewish Chronicle, 14 March 1952, p. 8). In 1950 he trained as a teacher in Brighton and subsequently taught art at schools in London and Reading, eventually becoming head of painting at Lanchester Polytechnic in 1964 (now Coventry University). The department was then at the forefront of British conceptual art and often challenged the methodology of painting. However, Weinberger’s appreciation for the medium prevailed and he continued to offer courses for students who were interested in adopting traditional approaches. He was greatly inspired by iconography, spending a lifetime collecting Russian icons, visiting both Novgorod and Mount Sinai to see important examples; in the 1970s he was awarded a travelling fellowship from Goldsmiths to study icon paintings. Weinberger also depicted landscapes encountered on his trips across the UK, in Italy, Greece and other parts of Europe. In 1976 his work featured alongside fellow émigré artists in Roots and Influences: Jankel Adler, Hilde Goldschmidt, Harry Weinberger, held at the Camden Arts Centre, London. A decade later he featured in the important 1986 exhibition focussing on the émigré generation: Art in Exile in Great Britain, 1933-45, hosted by the same venue.
On retirement in 1983, Weinberger moved to Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, where he continued to paint. His favoured subjects included interiors and still lifes; however, he also painted portraits of mathematician, Christopher Zeeman and author, Iris Murdoch. Murdoch and Weinberger were close friends, often visiting galleries together. When writing about Weinberger’s artistic style, Murdoch considered the influence that the Post-Impressionists and Cubists had on his work, but concluded that ultimately his vision was always his own. Their friendship was celebrated in the posthumous exhibition Iris Murdoch & Harry Weinberger: Writer Meets Painter, held at Kingston Museum & Art Gallery (2014). Henry Weinberger died on 10 September 2009 in Leamington Spa, England. His work featured posthumously in Ben Uri exhibitions, including Refugees: The Lives of Others (2017), Finchleystrasse: German artists in exile in Great Britain and beyond 1933-45, held at the Germany Embassy in London (2018), and Art-Exit: A Very Different Europe, held at the European Commission, London (2019). His work is held in many UK public collections, including the Ben Uri Collection, the Government Art Collection, and the National Museum Cardiff, while his oral history testimony is part of the British Library's National Life Story Collection: Artists' Lives.
Harry Weinberger in the Ben Uri collection
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Harry Weinberger]
Publications related to [Harry Weinberger] in the Ben Uri Library