Josef Herman RA

Josef Herman ranks among the best draughtsmen and his work is represented in many collections including the Ben Uri collection of Jewish art .

His importance has also been recognised by many critics.
‘Josef Herman is a draughtsman of very great ability. He has his chosen medium of pen and wash completely under control .’
The times newspaper.
‘ Swift , brilliant and assured are his drawings, and through these shines a constant recognition of individual character……. There is a snap and crackle in the execution of these drawings , the simplicity of which may belie the acuteness of the observation .
The Spectator.

Josef Herman was born in Warsaw , Poland in 1911. He came to England in 1940and lived for 3 years in Scotland . His first London exhibition was at Lefevre in 1943 and the following year he settled in the welsh mining village Ystradgynlais. From 1946 onwards he exhibited with Rolland, Browse & Delbanco. He travelled widely over Europe and painted many ink wash drawings in Burgundy , France, Portugal and Italy  as well as a number when he visited Mexico with his family in the early 1960’s .

In 1951 he painted a mural for Festival of Britain, which formed the centre piece for his large one man show at Whitechapel Gallery in 1956.

What many people do not know is that from 1962 to 1972 Herman and his family lived in Suffolk where he painted rural and fishing scenes . His studio was at Holly Lodge just outside Sudbury and he later declared that ;’my life in Suffolk was the nearest to bliss I ever came ‘.