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Henry
Sanders
(né Helmuth
Salomon) 1918-1982
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HENRY
SANDERS né Helmut Saloman was born in Dresden, Germany in 1918.
After he left Germany in 1933 he travelled first to Holland, then
to England where he studied at Hornsey College of Art, becoming well
known in artistic circles in that area. During the war he was interned
and sent to Canada, where he started to draw in the camp. In a letter
sent home, Sanders said, "The work (I do) here is the best I
have done: I express myself more and more freely". "A Lucid
Interval", a biographical account by F.G.Cohn, gives a human
element to those inhumane times. "Henry
kneeled on the floor in a corner of the washroom and drew "Leda
and the Swan" in charcoal. From his drawing he took little
time off. (He was supposed to help with the washing up after meals,
but he often forgot and no one was keen to remind him.) |
If you are interested to find out more about Henry Sanders né Helmut Saloman, you can download a pdf of press clippings and related information by clicking on the image below.
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| When
disturbed in his work, he flew easily into a temper. When he was involved
in his drawings, it was generally understood, that it was best not
to talk to him. If someone dared to address him, he was likely to
jump up, enraged, his dark piercing eyes behind his slim rimmed glasses
directed towards the offender and to shout, that he had no time for
a chat, that he wanted to be left alone and that there were, surely,
enough other places in the camp. Soon he was down again on the floor
and, mumbling to himself, he would look at what he had done, thicken
a stroke, correct a line, alter a curve. Or he would push the paper
aside and start all over again on another sheet. He had made dozens
of drawings of "Leda and the Swan". He seemed never satisfied
with what he had done. It was as if the struggle for each square inch
of paper was never going to come to an end. Bits of charcoal were
lying on a piece of newspaper beside him. His hands were black. His
face was smudged. People did not really like him to draw on the floor
in the washroom. There were more suitable corners in the camp. But
Henry was not willing to move elsewhere. Again
and again he drew the stylised, sleek, female figure embracing the
elongated swan's neck. At one point, woman and bird merged into
one and then parted. Leda's head was slightly bent and her hair
got lost in the feathers on the bird's breast. The swan's beak was
lifted skyward. But on each drawing there were slight, almost imperceptible
differences. Henry was patient with himself while working. Perhaps
he did not hope for success. Perhaps the sense of achievement lay
in the attempts and not in looking over his shoulders, he was the
gentlest of persons. |