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Nigel Graeme Henderson (1 April 1917 – 15 May 1985) was an English documentary artist, and photographer.


Life

He was born on 1 April 1917 to Kenneth Henderson and Winifred Ellen Henderson (née Lester). Henderson's parents divorced when he was young. His mother, Winifred "Wyn", creatively inspired him to pursue a career in art. At the beginning of her career Wyn managed ''The Hours Press'' for
Nancy Cunard Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...
. She decided to quit after a heated argument with Cunard. Wyn returned to London to live in the heart of
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mu ...
, in Gordon Square. Nigel opted to live with his mother instead of his father's ordinary family. In 1938, Wyn found a gig managing the ''Guggenheim Jeune'' for
Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemian and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down wit ...
; a famous collector of modern art. Nigel studied
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
at
Chelsea Polytechnic Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further education, further ...
in London from 1935–1936. He then worked as an assistant to Helmut Ruhemann from 1936–1939. In the late 1930s Henderson developed paintings inspired by
Yves Tanguy Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 – January 15, 1955), known as just Yves Tanguy (, ), was a French surrealist painter. Biography Tanguy, the son of a retired navy captain, was born January 5, 1900, at the Ministry of Naval Affa ...
. Through his mother's ties, Henderson met leading artists of the
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or 'vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical D ...
such as
Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...
and
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
. In 1938, Henderson exhibited two collages at the Guggenheim Jeune alongside artists such as
Ernst Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975- ...
,
Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...
,
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...
, Schwitters and Gris. Henderson put his passion for art aside to join the war effort as a pilot in
Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
. In 1943 he married (Karin) Judith Stephen (1918 - 1972); an anthropologist who introduced him to life on working class streets (daughter of psychoanalysts
Adrian Stephen Adrian Leslie Stephen (27 October 1883 – 3 May 1948) was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, an author and psychoanalyst, and the younger brother of Thoby Stephen, Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. He and his wife Karin Stephen became intereste ...
and Karin Costelloe and niece of writer
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
). They had four children: Clement Drusilla (1944), Justin (1946), Edward Stephen (1954) and Stephen Nigel (1956). His wife's sister Ann was married to biochemist
Richard Laurence Millington Synge Richard Laurence Millington Synge FRS FRSE FRIC FRSC MRIA (Liverpool, 28 October 1914 – Norwich, 18 August 1994) was a British biochemist, and shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Arche ...
. During this period Henderson took various photographs of street life and began to compile documentaries. He also continued to experiment with
collages Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...
and the physicality of photography. After his World War Two venture he studied at the
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
in London. At Slade he befriended
Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Paolozzi was born on 7 March ...
and William Turnbull. He and Paolozzi travelled to Paris and met other artists such as Brancusi, Léger,
Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo, ...
, and
Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...
. After leaving Slade Henderson fell back in love with photography. While living in
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By t ...
between 1949–1952, he took numerous documentary photographs of the area. He achieved abnormal effects by using various techniques such as altering negatives and placing images on light-sensitive paper to create ''
Photogram A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The usual result is a negative shadow image th ...
s''. In the early 1950s he was a member of the Independent Group and taught at the
Central School of Art The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cra ...
with
Anthony Froshaug Anthony Froshaug (1920–1984) was an English typographer, designer and teacher, born in London to a Norwegian father and English mother. Influenced by ideas of European modernism, particularly the work of Jan Tschichold, Froshaug is considered ...
, Edward Wright and Eduardo Paolozzi. With Paolozzi and others he participated in the Parallel of Life and Art exhibition at the ICA in London. He also took part in the exhibition '' This is Tomorrow'' at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1956. At ''This is Tomorrow'', Henderson exhibited a large and disturbing image entitled "Head of Man." After performing his first major one man show at the ICA, he began colouring in some of his photographs with paint. One of his most famous coloured photographs is "Plant Tantrums." From 1965–1968 and from 1972–1982 he headed the photography department at Norwich School of Art while working on independent projects. Henderson produced most of his work in series connected by a single visceral image. One of his series named "Face at the Window" focused on the image of a bandaged face which Henderson found on a
cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible cards with their packages of cigarette ...
. He followed with two other series entitled Head in Blocks, and Single Heads, in which he created various versions of
self-portraits A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...
. In 1954 he moved with his family to the village of
Thorpe-le-Soken Thorpe-le-Soken is a village and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England located east of Colchester, west of Walton-on-the-Naze, Frinton-on-Sea and north of Clacton-on-Sea. History Since 2002, archaeological investigations ahea ...
in Essex. The Hendersons were joined by the Paolozzis who owned joint cottages that neighboured theirs. With Paolozzi, Henderson established Hammer Prints Limited, a design company producing wallpapers, textiles and ceramics that were initially manufactured at Landermere Wharf. Henderson's company did not hinder his collaboration with others from the Independent Group.
Colin St John Wilson Sir Colin Alexander St John ("Sandy") Wilson, FRIBA, RA, (14 March 1922 – 14 May 2007) was an English architect, lecturer and author. He spent over 30 years progressing the project to build a new British Library in London, originally planned ...
, a long time member of the Independent Group, invited Henderson to form a solo exhibition at the
School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...
in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...
. Wilson also donated a collage screen started by Henderson in 1949 to the
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 ...
in 2004. Nigel Henderson's work was included in the 1990
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA ...
exhibition, ''The Independent Group: Postwar Britain and the Aesthetics of Plenty''. From 6 August to 4 September 1983, the exhibition 'Heads eye Wyn' of Dada-influenced photomontage images of his own head, an obsessive theme in his later work was presented in
The Minories, Colchester The Minories is a Grade II listed building and gardens situated at the east end of High Street in Colchester, Essex, England, near Hollytrees, Gate House and Colchester Castle. It currently houses The Minories Galleries which are run by Colches ...
. In 2013, A tour of
Firstsite Firstsite is a visual arts organisation based in Colchester, Essex, which opened in 2011. It was the national Art Fund's Museum of the Year in 2021. The building Firstsite occupy as tenants was designed by Rafael Viñoly and the freehold is r ...
exhibition 'Nigel Henderson and Eduardo Paolozzi: Hammer Prints Ltd 1954–1975' was held and followed by tea and cakes at The Minories Cafe. In addition, The Eastern Pavilions Print Portfolio which can currently be viewed at
The Minories, Colchester The Minories is a Grade II listed building and gardens situated at the east end of High Street in Colchester, Essex, England, near Hollytrees, Gate House and Colchester Castle. It currently houses The Minories Galleries which are run by Colches ...
includes Nigel Henderson's photograph 'Wall Painting. Stopping Out. Grove Road. Bethnal Green' (1949–53). In June 2012 the Nigel Henderson Estate appointe
Tate Images
as the Copyright Agent for all permissions clearance and in April 2015 the
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 ...
made available over 3,000 photographs by Nigel Henderson. The photographs were taken during 1949-1956 and cover two distinctive aspects of his life, his time in the East End, especial around Bethnal Green and his interest in the 1950s London Soho jazz scene. The photographs of the East End are of a documentary nature showing life on the street; children playing, street vendors, market stalls, high streets, buildings and the street parties around the 1953
Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...
of Queen Elizabeth II. The photographs of Soho’s jazz sense include candid images of
Tony Crombie Anthony John Kronenberg (27 August 1925 – 18 October 1999), known professionally as Tony Crombie, was an English jazz drummer, pianist, bandleader, and composer. He was regarded as one of the finest English jazz drummers and bandleaders, an oc ...
,
Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...
, Lennie Bush and
Jack Parnell John Russell Parnell (6 August 1923  – 8 August 2010) was an English musician and musical director. Biography Parnell was born into a theatrical family in London, England. His uncle was the theatrical impresario Val Parnell. During h ...
.


References


External links


YouTube - Nigel Henderson , Animating the Archives (Tate)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Nigel 1917 births 1985 deaths People educated at Stowe School Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Photographers from Essex Academics of the Central School of Art and Design People from Thorpe-le-Soken