__NOTOC__ Albertus Antonius Johannes Houthuesen (; 3 October 1903 – 20 October 1979), known as Albert Houthuesen ( ), was a Dutch-born British artist.

Life

Early life and training

Albert Houthuesen was born in the

Oude Pijp Oude Pijp (Dutch for "Old Pipe"), also known as Noord-Pijp (Dutch for "North-Pipe") is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands located in an urbanised part of the Zuid borough. It had a population of 14,102 in 2011 and an area of 68 hectares. T ...

neighbourhood of Amsterdam, at 263 Albert Cuypstraat, the eldest of the four children of Jean Charles Pierre Houthuesen (1877–1911), a painter and musician, and his wife Elisabeth Petronella Emma, née Wedemeyer (1873–1966). After Jean Charles Pierre's early death, when Albert was 8 years old, the family moved near Elisabeth's mother in London, and Elisabeth opened a boarding house at 20 Constantine Road, near Hampstead Heath. St martins art school 1

Houthuesen left school aged 14 and went to work for a grocer, then as a lens fitter, apprentice engraver, tailor's stencil cutter, and furniture restorer. At the same time, he began attending evening classes at

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of t ...

. He shared a studio with artists Gerald Ososki,

Barnett Freedman Barnett Freedman CBE RDI (19 May 1901 – 4 January 1958) was a British painter, commercial designer, book illustrator, typographer, and lithographer. Biography Early life and education Barnett Freedman was born in Stepney, in the east en ...

and Reginald Brill in Howland Street (Fitzrovia). Though he loved watching

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

, he preferred theatre to film, particularly enjoying performances by the comedians

George Robey Sir George Edward Wade, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954),James Harding (music writer), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University P ...

and

Little Tich Harry Relph (21 July 186710 February 1928),Russell, Dav"Relph, Harry (1867–1928)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013 professionally known as Littl ...

. In 1921, he made the first of three trips to Holland, spending time with an uncle, the painter and potter Bernard Boeziek. He became a British citizen in 1922. In 1923–1924, he was designing lettering for the architectural sculpture firm Aumonier. Thanks to

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

, principal of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, Houthuesen was eventually able to obtain a scholarship to attend the RCA between 1924 and 1927, with contemporaries

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

Edward Burra Edward John Burra CBE (29 March 1905 – 22 October 1976) was an English painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, best known for his depictions of the urban underworld, black culture and the Harlem scene of the 1930s. Biography Early life Burra w ...

Ceri Richards Ceri Giraldus Richards (6 June 1903 – 9 November 1971) was a Welsh painter, print-maker and maker of reliefs. Biography Richards was born in 1903 in the village of Dunvant, near Swansea, the son of Thomas Coslett Richards and Sarah Ri ...

and Cecil Collins. Rothenstein invited Houthuesen to stay when his deeply unhappy home life prevented him from studying effectively.

Vivian Pitchforth Roland Vivian Pitchforth RA ARWS (25 April 1895 – 6 August 1982) was an English painter, teacher and an official British war artist during the Second World War. He excelled at watercolours and in later years concentrated on landscapes, sea ...

is reported to have seen particular promise in Houthuesen's student work.

Teaching and painting

In 1927, at the RCA, Houthuesen also met his future wife Catherine Dean. He stayed on at college as a student demonstrator until the following summer. He then gave evening art classes at the Mary Ward Settlement and the Working Men's College with colleagues

Percy Horton Percy Frederick Horton MA, RBA, ARCA (8 March 1897 in Brighton, England – 1970) was an English painter and art teacher, and Ruskin Master of Drawing, University of Oxford from 1949 to 1964. During the First World War he was imprisoned as ...

and Barnett Freedman, under the directorship of

James Laver James Laver, CBE, FRSA (14 March 1899 – 3 June 1975) was an English author, critic, art historian, and museum curator who acted as Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings for the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1938 and 1959. He was also ...

. Janet Barnes, ''Percy Horton 1897–1970'' (Sheffield City Art Galleries, 1982), p.17, . He taught at the Working Men's College until 1938. In 1929, he undertook his first commission for

Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford, (19 February 1858 – 27 August 1940) was an English politician and peer. He was the son of Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Sackville-West, daughter of George Sack ...

, making copies of enamel miniature portraits. Terraced houses, Abbey Gardens, NW8 (2) - geograph

Albert Houthuesen married Catherine Dean in 1931. They lived in a flat at 20 Abbey Gardens in St John's Wood. Throughout the 1930s they visited

Trelogan Trelogan is a village in Flintshire, north east Wales. It is located between Mostyn and Trelawnyd and is almost contiguous with Berthengam. Trelogan had a population of 671 as of the 2011 census. The village has its own primary school (''Ysgo ...

, near the

Point of Ayr :''There are two other similarly named points in the British Isles: Point of Ayre, Isle of Man and Point of Ayre, Orkney, Scotland.'' Point of Ayr ( cy, Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately to ...

colliery in north east Wales, staying in Mersey Cottage, owned by Catherine's aunts. Here Houthuesen painted landscapes and portraits of colliers. In spring 1936, Houthuesen suffered an internal hemorrhage due to a

duodenal ulcer Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a break in the inner lining of the stomach, the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while one in the first part of the intestines ...

, from which it took him a long time to recover. When Herbrand Russell's wife, the aviator and ornithologist

Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford Mary Du Caurroy Russell, Duchess of Bedford, (née Tribe; 13/26 September 1865 – ca. 22 March 1937) was a British aviator and ornithologist. She was honoured for her work in founding hospitals and working in them during the First World War. ...

, died in a plane crash in March 1937, the duke commissioned a stained-glass memorial window in St Mary's Church, Woburn of Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

surrounded by birds. In 1938, the Houthuesens moved to 37b Greville Road, not far from their previous London home.

War work

In September 1940 the house of the Houthuesens' immediate neighbour and landlord, sculptor

Alfred Frank Hardiman Alfred Frank Hardiman (21 May 1891 – 17 April 1949) was an English sculptor. He was born at 17 Orde Hall Street, London, the son of Alfred William Hardiman, silversmith, of Holborn, and his wife, Ada Myhill. Life Hardiman won a London Coun ...

, was bombed in

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. Nobody was hurt, but the house was uninhabitable. The Houthuesens returned to Trelogan. Loversall - geograph

From late 1941 until the end of the war, they lived in Yorkshire, just south of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, where St Gabriel's College, the teacher training college where Catherine worked, was evacuated. They lived first in a cottage in

Letwell Letwell is a rural village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with Nottinghamshire. It lies between Dinnington and Langold, off the B6463 road. It is located at 53° 22' 40" Nort ...

, then in the Farm House in

Loversall Loversall is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 128, increasing to 156 at the 2011 Census. The village consists mainly of residential properties and farm buil ...

, and by summer 1943 at 21 St Mary's Gate in

Tickhill Tickhill is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, close to the border with Nottinghamshire. At the 2001 census it had a population of 5,301, reducing to 5,228 at the 2011 Census. Geography It lies ...

. Houthuesen was rejected from the army on health grounds and worked as a draughtsman for the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

at the

Doncaster Works Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England. Also referred to as The Plant''", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it un ...

. He suffered a severe nervous breakdown and was discharged in March 1944. He made his first clown drawings in 1944, after seeing a family of Russian Jewish clowns, the Hermans, at the Grand Theatre in Doncaster.

After the war

The Houthuesens returned to London at the end of the war and lived in Lady Margaret Vicarage in Chatham Street, Southwark, where they acted as wardens for St Gabriel's College students accommodated there. Houthuesen was able to attend ballets at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

and the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

, such as ''Los Caprichos'' (inspired by the Goya etchings), ''Petrushka'', ''

The Three-Cornered Hat ''El sombrero de tres picos'' (''The Three-Cornered Hat'' or ''Le tricorne'') is a ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine to music by Manuel de Falla. It was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev and premiered in 1919. It is not only a ballet with S ...

'', and ''

Les Sylphides ''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative ''ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk ...

''. In autumn 1950, the Houthuesens moved again, to (then) semi-derelict Stone Hall with overgrown gardens, in

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxte ...

, Surrey, and then again, in July 1952, to their final home at 5 Love Walk, in Denmark Hill, Camberwell. Houthuesen helped to build up the art collection at St Gabriel's College. His acquisitions included a woodcut of ''The Ecstasy of Mary Madgalene'' by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, a pencil drawing of Whitehaven on the Cumbrian coast by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...

, a preparatory pencil drawing of three horses' heads for ''The Frugal Meal'' by

John Frederick Herring Sr. John Frederick Herring Sr. (12 September 1795 – 23 September 1865), also known as John Frederick Herring I, was a Painting, painter, sign maker and coachman in Victorian era, Victorian England.Georges Rouault Georges Henri Rouault (; 27 May 1871, Paris – 13 February 1958) was a French painter, draughtsman and print artist, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. Childhood and education Rouault was born in Paris into a po ...

. After the college closed in 1978, the collection was transferred to an educational trust and subsequently loaned to

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

Later life

Houthuesen suffered continued ill-health, spending eight weeks in the Gordon Hospital in spring and summer 1961, three weeks in

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by K ...

in early 1965, and suffering a stroke in the 1970s. In 1976 the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

broadcast ''Walk to the Moon: The Story of Albert Houthuesen'', a film about Houthuesen's life and work, directed by John Armstrong (1928–2004). The title is a reference to the Dutch expression ''Loop naar de maan'', Houthuesen's mother's response to requests for art supplies. Albert Houthuesen died on 20 October 1979. A memorial exhibition was held in 1981 at the South London Art Gallery.

Selected paintings

During his career, Houthuesen possibly painted about 2000 works, and although many were acquired by major art galleries and collectors, few have been publicly exhibited. In 2021 Houthuesen's ''Hedger and Ditcher: Portrait of William Lloyd'' (1937) was chosen to replace the portrait of slave owner Sir

Thomas Picton Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible t ...

in the

National Museum Cardiff National Museum Cardiff ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd) is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Go ...

. * 1927 ''The Supper at Emmaus'' (

Potteries Museum & Art Gallery The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Bethesda Street, Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free. One of the four local authority museums in the city, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum ...

, Stoke-on-Trent
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* 1927 ''The Traveller'' (

Leeds Art Gallery Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance" ...

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* 1933 ''The Collier'' (William Jones) (

Museums Sheffield Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust, known as Museums Sheffield is a charity created in 1998 to run Sheffield City Council’s non-industrial museums and galleries. Museums Sheffield currently manages three sites in the city: Graves Art Galle ...

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* 1933 ''Painted in a Welsh Village'', portrait of Harry Jones (

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

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* 1933 ''Grain Barrels'' (Museums Sheffield
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* 1934 ''Jones, White Horse Farm'' (National Museum Cardiff
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* 1934 ''Wheels, Maes Gwyn Farm'' (

Llanasa Llanasa is a village and community in the county of Flintshire, north-east Wales. Llanasa is described as one of the ancient parishes of Flintshire. It originally comprised the townships of Gronant, Gwespyr, Kelston, Golden Grove, Picton, Trew ...

, near

Holywell, Flintshire Holywell ( '','' cy, Treffynnon) is a market town and community in Flintshire, Wales. It lies to the west of the estuary of the River Dee. The community includes Greenfield. Etymology The name Holywell is literally ' + ' in reference to St W ...

) (

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

, Belfast
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* 1935 ''Maes Gwyn Stack Yard'' (Tate
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* 1935 ''The

Bebington Bebington () is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula. Ne ...

Stable'' (Leeds Art Gallery
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* 1935 ''Jo Parry, Welsh Collier'' (National Museum Cardiff
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* 1937 ''Hedger and Ditcher: Portrait of William Lloyd''William Price Lloyd was the older brother of the singer David Lloyd (). (National Museum Cardiff
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* 1939–1940 ''Crown of Thorns'' (Tate
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* 1943 ''Flying Officer Herbert Houtheusen ic(b.1915)'' (

Royal Air Force Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is a registered charity. The museum is split into two separate sites: * Ro ...

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* c.1944 ''A Shell and Flowers'' (

Nottingham Castle Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortress and o ...

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* 1956–1960 ''Still Life with Mulberry Leaves'' (Leeds Art Gallery
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* 1965 ''Evening'' (

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, New Haven, Connecticut
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* 1968 ''Barrier'' ( County Hall, Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection
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* 1968 ''Night Sea, Autumn'' (

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

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* 1970 ''Ravine'' (

Pallant House Gallery Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th-century British art in the world. History The Gallery's collection is founded on works left to the city of Chichester by ...

, Chichester
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* 1972 ''April Moon, the Gateway'' (Leeds Art Gallery
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* 1974 ''Harlequin'' ( Heritage Doncaster
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* Undated ''Implements of the Passion'' (

Campion Hall, Oxford Campion Hall is one of the five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford in England. It is run by the Society of Jesus and named after Edmund Campion, a martyr and fellow of St John's College, Oxford. The hall is located on Brewer St ...

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* Undated ''Still Life of Pears'' (

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

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Reception

The art critic

Souren Melikian Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, also known as Souren Melikian (born 5 December 1936), is a French-Iranian art historian, art critic, and curator. He is a renowned scholar of Iranian culture, and its sphere of influence. Background He was bo ...

has written: "I suspect that Houthuesen will come to be seen as one of the great figures in post-World War II Western art".

Published works

* Albert Houthuesen and

John Rothenstein Sir John Knewstub Maurice Rothenstein (11 July 1901 – 27 February 1992) was a British arts administrator and art historian. Biography John Rothenstein was born in London in 1901, the son of Sir William Rothenstein. The family was connec ...

, ''Albert Houthuesen: An Appreciation'' (London, Mercury, 1969),

References

External links

*
Works by Albert Houthuesen in the Tate collectionWorks by Albert Houthuesen in the V&A collectionAlbert Houthuesen 1903–1979Jonathan Evens, "The Spirituality of the Artist-Clown. The Significance of the Clown in the Life and Work of Albert Houthuesen"Biography of Albert Houthuesen by the Tickhill History SocietyRecord in the Ben Uri Research Unit for the Study of the Jewish and Immigrant Contribution to the Visual Arts in Britain since 1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houthuesen, Albert 1903 births 1979 deaths 20th-century British painters British male painters Artists from London Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art British draughtsmen British portrait painters British still life painters British lithographers Dutch emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century British male artists 20th-century lithographers