Gertrude Hermes facts for kids

Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes (born August 18, 1901 – died May 9, 1983) was a talented British artist. She was famous for her wood-engravings and sculptures. Wood-engraving is a special way of making prints by carving designs into a block of wood. Sculptures are artworks made by shaping materials like clay, stone, or metal.

Gertrude Hermes was part of the English Wood Engraving Society. She also showed her art at important places like the Royal Academy of Arts and The London Group in the 1930s.

About Gertrude Hermes's Life

Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes was born in Bickley, Kent, England, on August 18, 1901. Her parents, Louis August Hermes and Helene, came from Germany.

Around 1921, Gertrude went to the Beckenham School of Art. In 1922, she joined Leon Underwood's Brook Green School of Painting and Sculpture. Other famous artists like Henry Moore also studied there. She married Blair Hughes-Stanton in 1926, but they separated a few years later.

Gertrude Hermes also created illustrations for books. She worked for a short-lived magazine called Island and drew pictures for Penguin Books.

This is a bronze sculpture of Conrad Noel that Gertrude Hermes created.

Gertrude Hermes often showed her art at the Royal Academy of Arts starting in 1934. Her work was also displayed at the Venice Biennale in 1939, which is a big art exhibition in Italy. In 1937, she made a special artwork for the British section at the Paris World Fair.

From 1940 to 1945, Gertrude lived and worked in the United States and Canada. When she returned to England, she taught art. She taught wood engraving and linocutting at the Central School of Art in London. She even took a drawing class to the London Zoo! Later, she taught wood and lino block printing at the Royal Academy Schools from 1966.

In 1949, Gertrude Hermes became a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. She was also elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1963 and became a full member in 1971. In 1961, she won first prize at the Victoria and Albert Museum for her linocut artwork called Stonehenge. In 1981, she received an important award called the OBE for her contributions to art.

Her artworks are kept in many public art collections. These include the Tate museum and the National Portrait Gallery, London. Some of her pieces were also in private collections. For example, the famous musician David Bowie owned a bronze "Swallow" door knocker made by Gertrude Hermes.

Sadly, Gertrude Hermes had a severe stroke in 1969, which made it difficult for her to work. She passed away in Bristol in 1983.

Famous Artworks by Gertrude Hermes

Here are some of Gertrude Hermes's well-known pieces:

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

Exhibitions of Her Work

Gertrude Hermes's art has been shown in many exhibitions:

• 1967: An exhibition called "Bronzes and Carvings, Drawings, Wood Engravings, Wood and Lino Block Cuts, 1924–1967" at the Whitechapel Art Gallery.
• 2008: An exhibition at the North House Gallery.
• 2015 - 2016: "Wild Girl: Gertrude Hermes" at The Hepworth Wakefield. This was the first big exhibition of her work in 30 years in the UK.

See also

In Spanish: Gertrude Hermes para niños