Gertrude Hermes

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Gertrude Hermes
Born
Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes

(1901-08-18)18 August 1901
RA

Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes

wood-engraver and sculptor. Hermes was a member of the English Wood Engraving Society (1925–31) and exhibited with the Society of Wood Engravers, the Royal Academy and The London Group during the 1930s.[1]

Life

Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes was born on 18 August 1901 in Bickley, Kent. Her parents, Louis August Hermes and Helene, née Gerdes, were from Altena, near Dortmund, Germany.[2] In about 1921 she attended the Beckenham School of Art, and in 1922 enrolled at Leon Underwood's Brook Green School of Painting and Sculpture, where other students included Eileen Agar, Raymond Coxon, Henry Moore and Blair Hughes-Stanton, whom she married in 1926;[3][4] they separated in 1931, and were divorced in 1933.[2]

Hermes was a contributor to the short-lived publication, Island (1931) that was edited by Joseph Bard. She was also a commissioned illustrator for Penguin Books.[5]

Bronze sculpture of Conrad Noel created by Hermes

Hermes exhibited regularly at the

Central School of Art in London (now Central St Martin's) in the late 1940s to early '50s. She also took a drawing class to London Zoo. She taught wood and lino block printing at the Royal Academy Schools, from 1966.[7]

In 1949, Hermes was elected an associate of the

OBE in 1981.[10]

Her work is in many public collections including the

National Portrait Gallery. Her work was also in private collections including a c1926 bronze "Swallow" door knocker in the collection of David Bowie.[12]

Hermes suffered severe stroke in 1969 that meant she was unable to work. She died in Bristol in 1983.[13]

Notable works

  • Spring bouquet, 1929, wood engraving
  • Leda and the Swan, 1932, sculpture
  • The warrior's tomb, 1941, wood engraving
  • Bat and Spider, 1932, wood engraving
  • Other Cats and Henry, 1952, wood engraving
  • Kathleen Raine, 1954, sculpture
  • Peacock, 1961, bronze sculpture, for Ordsall High School in
    Salford[14]

Exhibitions

References

  1. OCLC 852827675.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  2. ^ a b James Hamilton (2004). Hermes, Gertrude Anna Bertha (1901–1983). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 2014. (subscription required)
  3. ^ "British Council − Art Collection − Collection". Collection.britishcouncil.org. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  4. ISBN 978-1-85444-064-8
    . Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  5. OCLC 852827675.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  6. ISBN 1872482058
    . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  7. ^ "Gertrude Hermes". IFPDA. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  8. OCLC 852827675.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  9. OCLC 852827675.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  10. ^ a b "GERTRUDE HERMES at the North House Gallery | art exhibitions". Northhousegallery.co.uk. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  11. ^ "Tate Collection | Gertrude Hermes". Tate Etc. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  12. ^ "Hermes bronze swallow door knocker at David Bowie auction". SalvoNEWS. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  13. OCLC 852827675.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  14. ^ Miss Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes OBE. Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951. University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011. Retrieved January 2014.
  15. ^ "Wild Girl: Gertrude Hermes". The Hepworth Wakefield. Retrieved 13 November 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gertrude Hermes.
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