Gertrude Hermes: Fluidity of Nature

Gertrude Anna Bertha Hermes OBE RA (1901 – 1983) was an English printmaker and sculptor, born in Kent, England. Her parents were originally from Germany.
She attended the Beckenham School of Art in 1921, and the next year she enrolled at the Brook Green School of Painting and Sculpture, where fellow students included Henry Moore and Blair Hughes-Stanton, (whom she married in 1926, but later divorced in 1933).

Hermes produced a commission for the British Pavilion at the Paris World Fair in 1937. She exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, and her work was included at the Venice International Exhibition in 1939. She worked in Canada from 1940 to 1945.

As a teacher, she taught printmaking at the Central School of Art in London, and she taught printmaking at the Royal Academy Schools. Her graphic work focused on natural themes. Her illustrations were used for books such as Gilbert White’s Natural History of Selbourne, and the famous The Complete Angler.

Her work is in many public collections including the Tate, and the National Portrait Gallery. Her commissions include a fountain for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and she is included in numerous private collections such as the musician David Bowie.

Honors:
Associate of the Royal Academy - 1963
Royal Academician - 1971
appointed an OBE -1981