Sculptor.

Biography

1891 Born Henri-Gaudier near Orleans, France

1906 Came to London on a travelling scholarship for two months

1907 Returned on a second sholarship and remained for two years in Bristol and Cardiff, where he studied English business methods. Painstaking studies of birds, animals and architecture in Bristol, Devon and Somerset

1909 Yet another award provided a stay in Nuremberg and Munich. He studied German business methods there as welll as learning to speak the language. Studied art in free time

1910 Studied art in Paris in the evenings at the St. Genevieve Library. Decided to devote himself to an artistic career. Health deteriorated through over-work and under-nourishment. Met Sophie Brzeska, Polish, twenty years his senior.

1911 Left Paris to live with Sophie Brzeska in London. Adds her surname to his own. Has no income but is living on Sophie's savings, studying art in the museums and libraries. Finds job working as a translator. Still low income. Makes few friends. Unhappy period

1912 Gaudier introduces himself to Haldane Macfall by letter. Through him makes many friends and contacts. Began to model portraits and sculpt in clay. Commissioned to sculpt Maria Carmi by Mrs. Leman Hare. Visits Epstein in his studio and Gaudier decides to begin carving himself. Receives several commissions for small sculptures

1913 Moved to new studio on Fulham Road. Gave up job at Wulfsberg to devote himself entirely to art

1914 Started carving portrait head of Ezra Pound, a recent friend. Actively involved in establishment of Rebel Art Center and contributed to their magazine, Blast. Elected Chairman of the Allied Artist's Association. War is declared. Gaudier pays last rent on his apartment in Putney, write lists of his sculptures and to whom they belong. Left in September to fight in France. Carved out of the butt of a German rifle and wrote an article for Blast. Promoted to Corporal

1915 Letters from the front still discuss art and literature. Sent two abstract drawings home to England from the trenches. Promoted to Sergeant and training to be a Lieutenant when he was killed in action at the French Front.

1919 Sophie moved to Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucester, where her mind slowly deteriorated. Three years later she was confined to Gloucester mental hospital

1925 Entire estate of Gaudier became property of the state. There were 13 oil paintings and pastels, 25 sculptures, 1,630 drawings and was valued at £250. Sophie Brzeska died that year while certified as insane

1927 3 sculptures and 15 drawings were retained for public collections. H.S. Ede decided to purchase the bulk of the estate himself

Bibliography

1978 Roger Cole, Burning to Speak, The Life and Art of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Phaidon, Oxford

1983 Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Sculptor, 1891-1915, Kettles Yard Gallery, Cambridge

1992 R. de Gourmont, M. Menier, F. Koslow-Miller, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska par Ezra Pound, Toulouse

1996 Evelyn Silber, (photography David Finn), Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Life and Art, Thames & Hudson Ltd., London

Selected Solo Exhibitions

1918 Memorial Exhibition, Leicester Galleries, London

1987 29 Drawings by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Yale Centre for British Art, USA

1990 Gaudier-Brzeska, Drawings, Gillian Jason Gallery, London

1992 Works by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Princeton Art Musem, USA

1993 Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Musee des Beaux Arts, Orleans, France; and Museee d'Art Moderne, Toulouse, France

Selected Group Exhibitions

1913 Exhibited six sculptures at the Allied Artist's Exhibiton at the Albert Hall, London.

1914 Exhibited five sculptures with the London Group and a portfolio of drawings at the Alpine Gallery, London