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Albert
Houthusen was born in Amsterdam but
moved to London in 1912, following
his artist-father's death at the
hand of his demented wife. During
the Twenties he worked at the Royal
College of Art with Henry Moore,
Barbara Hepworth, Edward Burra, Ceri
Richards and Cecil Collins. And
thereafter in isolation. This is the
first showing of Houthuesen's
vibrantly distinctive and powerful
Clown series, created between 1976
and 1978. The medium is Japanese
felt pen, with frequent additions of
gouache and watercolour. For
Houthuesen the clown was a symbol
inseparable in spirit from the
artist and the poet. And many of his
clowns are depicted as philosophers
and saints. The artist's words on
view are from conversations with
Richard Nathanson, and are also to
be found in the latter recently
published work ‘Houthuesen biography
- Walk To The Moon’. |
