Henry Sanders was born Helmuth Saloman into a Jewish family in Dresden, Germany in 1918. Following Hitler's accession to the Chancellorship, he fled Germany in 1933, first to Holland and then to England, where he studied at Hornsey College of Art in north London. He exhibited in many galleries across the country, including at the Ben Uri Gallery, where he also served on the Studio Group Committee in 1949–51.
Artist and gallerist Henry Sanders was born Helmuth Saloman into a Jewish family in Dresden, Germany in 1918. Following Hitler's accession to the Chancellorship, he fled Germany in 1933, first to Holland and then to England, where he arrived in 1935, where he began studying at Hornsey College of Art, initially from 1935–39, then resuming again under Russell Reave and John Moody after the end of the Second World War in 1945. During the war, he was interned as an ‘enemy alien’ in a commonwealth camp in Canada, where he drew prodigiously. Afterwards, he returned to England, where he exhibited regularly in London and across the country. He painted in an expressionist style, and his work was characterised by great rhythmic movement, rich imagery, lavish colours and distortions heightening ‘the emotional worth of his conceptions’ (Fealdman 1983, p. 17). As well as a painter of landscapes, figures and animals, he was also a lithographer and lino-cutter.
For many years Sanders was associated with the Ben Uri Art Gallery, first exhibiting in the late 1940s, and where he continued to show regularly until the 1970s, as well as serving on the Studio Group Committee from 1949–51. In 1954 he held his first solo show at Ben Uri which was well received by the press. The Manchester Guardian art critic, Stephen Bone noted similarities with the expressionist style of Soutine and Kokoschka, whilst Michael Bullock praised his animal paintings in the Jewish Quarterly, declaring: ‘The most outstanding single work was an oil painting. Tigers […] This picture tells us more about the artist’s vision than the less complex drawings. The keynote is a total harmony between subject matter and style that can only arise out of an intense power of identification. It is precisely this power of identification, operating in a domain where it is both unexpected and rare, that rises Henry Sander’s paintings, drawings and sculpture of animals so far above the usual sentimental, or purely decorative treatment (Bullock 1954, p. 47). In March 1954 he also contributed to a Ben Uri Studio Group exhibition. 'A.K.S.' fromThe Jewish Chronicle singled out his work, commenting: ‘The paintings I liked particularly were by Henry Sanders, who has had a special interest in animals for some years. His ‘Tigers’ have a richness and glow altogether outstanding, and the landscapes flanking this work arc equally enchanting in their ease of execution’ (A.K.S. 1954, p. 28). Two years later, Sanders was included in Ben Uri's exhibition celebrating the tercentenary of the return of Jews to England; in 1965 his work featured in a ten-person show, alongside fellow émigrés, Willy Tirr and Fritz Kormis, among others; and in 1970 he showed with émigré ceramicist Margaret Marks in a two-person show.
In 1960 Sanders opened Queenswood Galleries with his wife, located at 214 Archway Road in north London, where he exhibited his own work and that of other contemporary artists, among them many Jewish émigré painters, including Horace Brodzky, Frederick Feigl, Paul Hamann and Ada Flatto. In his 1961 exhibition at the Gallery, the Jewish Chronicle commented: ‘In his new paintings and drawings of Italian women and children there is more simplicity and restraint, and consequently more power. There are some good landscapes and nudes, too’ (Stone 1961, p. 13). Following a trip to Catalunya in 1963, Sanders produced watercolours inspired by the remote village in the province of Tarragona where he was staying, ‘using a black-laden brush with free linear energy. The result, with sombre colour in the masses, is robust and exciting’ (Stone 1963, p. 24). The following year he showed aquarelle landscapes, ‘overgrown with wild bushes and stunted trees, under swirling clouds’ (Stone 1964, p. 37). Sanders also exhibited at the Obelisk Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne; and at London's Redfern Gallery and Roland Browse & Delbanco (the latter co-founded by émigré dealer, Gustav Delbanco), as well as with The London Group.
Henry Sanders died in London, England in 1982. A joint memorial exhibition with works by Sanders, Jack Bilbo and Lottie Reizenstein was held at the Ben Uri the following year and, in 2011, his work featured in Ben Uri's show Summer in the City: Contemporary Responses, curated by Nathalie Levi, in which collection works were partnered with works by young artists. Henry Sanders' work is represented in the UK in the Ben Uri Collection.
Henry Sanders in the Ben Uri collection
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Henry Sanders]
Publications related to [Henry Sanders] in the Ben Uri Library