Elsie Marian Henderson, later Baroness de Coudenhove, (28 May 1880 – 1967) was a British painter and sculptor notable for her animal paintings.

Biography

Henderson was born in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and with the encouragement of her mother, a keen amateur painter, she attended the South Kensington Schools before studying 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 ...

between 1903 and 1905. Henderson continued her art education in Paris. For periods of time, between 1908 and 1912, she took lessons at various ateliers in the city including the Academie Moderne, the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

, the

Académie de La Palette An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, th ...

and at Cercle Russe. In 1912 Henderson studied with

Othon Friesz Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Biography Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of ...

before spending 1913 in Italy. After some time on the island of

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, Henderson enrolled at the Chelsea Polytechnic in 1916, where she was taught

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

by the artist

Francis Ernest Jackson Francis Ernest Jackson (15 August 1872 – 11 March 1945) was a British painter, draughtsman, poster designer and lithographer. Background Francis Ernest Jackson was born on 15 August 1872 in Huddersfield, the son of a printer. He was appr ...

. In London she became a frequent visitor to

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

and animal drawings and paintings became a major theme of her work. London Transport commissioned a poster from her to promote travel to the Zoo, which was, despite its unusual design, well received. Henderson started her own press and became a member of the

Senefelder Club The Senefelder Club is an organization formed in London in 1909 to promote the craft of art reproduction by the process of lithography. The club was named in honor of Aloys Senefelder, who in 1796 invented the lithographic process. The process ...

. In 1924 Henderson had her first solo exhibition at the

Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...

in London. The exhibition consisted of drawings, lithographs and bronze sculptures of, often savage, animals such as ''Jaguar Tearing its Prey'' and ''Leopard Killing a Parrot''. Between 1927 and 1938 several works by Henderson featured in exhibitions hosted by the Society of Graver Printers in Colour. In 1928 Henderson married Henri Baron de Coudenhove, the French consul to Guernsey. The couple lived on the island during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and throughout the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

. Baron de Coudenhove died towards the end of the war and in 1946 Henderson moved to

Hadlow Down Hadlow Down is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden district of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road three miles (4.8 km) north-west of Heathfield, East Sussex, Heathfield. The parish is within the H ...

in Sussex. She continued painting into the last years of her life. During her lifetime Henderson exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, with the

Women's International Art Club The Women's International Art Club, briefly known as the Paris International Art Club, was founded in Paris in 1900. The club was intended to "promote contacts between women artists of all nations and to arrange exhibitions of their work", and ...

and the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell ...

. A joint retrospective exhibition of Henderson's work, with that of her friend Orovida Pissarro, was held in 1985 at the Michael Parkin Gallery. Sally Hunter Fine Art subsequently held exhibitions of her work in 1999, 2001 and 2004 at various locations. 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 UK ...

holds two examples of her work, both from 1916, while the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

holds several pieces. The

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London, the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

in Cambridge and

Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...

also hold works by Henderson.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Elsie 1880 births 1967 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Académie Colarossi alumni Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art English women painters English women sculptors People from Eastbourne 20th-century British women painters