Timothy John Behrens (2 June 1937 – 2017) was a British painter who spent most of his professional life as a painter and a writer abroad, in Greece, Italy, and Spain.

Early life

Timothy John Behrens was born in London on 2 June 1937, the son of Michael Behrens, a financier, and later co-owner of Ionian Bank, and his wife Felicity. They lived in a Nash terrace overlooking Regent's Park, and in 1949 bought Culham Court, a large house in Berkshire on the river Thames. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and 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 ...

Career

Behrens formed part of the tightly knit group of artists and intellectuals who frequented the Colony Room ( John Deakin's famous photograph, ''Lunch at Wheelers'', is of Behrens, Freud, Bacon, Auerbach and Andrews, the Soho drinking club where

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

and others such as

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

spent much time during the late 1950s and the early 1960s.Terry Kirby (20 December 2004
"Celebrities and bohemians come together for Lucian Freud sale"
''The Independent''. Behrens posed in Freud's small Paddington studio for a portrait in 1962 (''Red-Haired Man on a Chair'') and 1963, and was also the subject of a portrait by Michael Andrews (permanent collection of the

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...

). He has exhibited in Spain and Britain.

Personal life

In 1958, Behrens married Janet Rheinberg (d. 1963), a fellow Slade student, and they had twin daughters, Kate and Sophie (d. 1985). In 1963, he married Harriet Hill, the daughter of

George Heywood Hill George Heywood Hill (29 July 1906 – 1986) was a British bookseller, and the founder of the Mayfair bookshop Heywood Hill in 1936. Early life He was born in Chelsea, London on 29 July 1906, the son of Major George Bernard Hill OBE (1874-1961), a ...

and

Lady Anne Hill Lady Anne Catherine Dorothy Hill (née Gathorne-Hardy; 1911–2006) was a British bookseller and writer. Life She was born in 1911, the daughter of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook and Lady Dorothy Montagu Boyle. In 1936, she star ...

, who ran

Heywood Hill Heywood Hill is a bookshop at 10 Curzon Street in the Mayfair district of London. History The shop was opened by George Heywood Hill on 3 August 1936, with the help of Lady Anne Gathorne-Hardy, who would later become his wife. For the last thr ...

, an avant-garde bookshop in

Curzon Street Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running ap ...

. They had two sons, Algy and Charlie, and a daughter, Fanny. In 1983, Behrens married for the third time, to the artist Diana Aitchison, niece of the painter Craigie Aitchison, who had been a fellow Slade student and close friend. They had a son, Harry.

References

External links

* * A Lunch Party, 1961, Timothy Behren

* Christies: Timothy Behrens, Man in bed

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrens, Timothy 1937 births 2017 deaths 20th-century British painters British male painters 21st-century British painters Modern painters People educated at Eton College Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists