Henry’s route to becoming a professional artist was unconventional. His working life began when he signed the Official Secrets Act in order to work on the Christmas post. While still at school he took a variety of Saturday jobs, from stacking shelves in supermarkets to working as a betting shop “board boy”.
Henry initially trained as an architect. He attended the Brixton School of Building before going on to Newcastle University to read Architecture. During his university years he worked at the practical end of the construction industry, taking summer jobs first as a builder’s labourer and later as a site agent’s ‘go-for’. After further study at Thames Polytechnic he qualified as an architect.
However, a deep and prolonged slump in the construction industry curtailed his architectural career. At this turning point he chose to pursue a long-held passion and began a new career as a professional artist. He first sold his works at markets, later exhibiting in shows and galleries, and today works from his North London studio producing prints and paintings for collectors and exhibitions.
Alongside working in his studio, Henry has shared his experience widely through teaching and lecturing. He has tutored adult education courses for the Field Studies Council, worked as a visiting lecturer at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, taught at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute, and currently runs his own weekly classes at a local venue.
Influences & Printmaking
Henry’s interest in printmaking began while he was still at school when he attended Saturday morning classes at Hornsey School of Art with Peter Green RE and George Large. Even at that early stage, two of his prints were selected for exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery.
Many years later he returned to printmaking under the guidance of Thomas Gosebruch. Unable to cope with the freezing winter conditions in Thomas’s King’s Cross studio, he moved to the Stroud Green Print Studio run by Stella Whalley. When that closed, he joined Peter Freeth RA (and later John Roberts) at the Holmes Road studio in Kentish Town, before moving to the London Print Studio in Westbourne Park under Darren van der Merwe. When that studio also closed, he joined Colin Gale’s Artichoke Print Workshop in Loughborough Junction, where he continues to work today.
Occasionally, when he wants a break from detailed architectural subjects, Henry creates abstract series using simple colour palettes, sometimes combined with embossing, de-bossing, or gilding. He also produces landscape prints, often in colour.
At times the subject suggests a painting rather than a print, and Henry continues to paint in watercolour, oils and soft pastels in his North London studio.
All images on this website are copyright material. Reproducing, copying or using them in any form, including electronic media, without the permission of the artist is an infringement of copyright.
All artwork © copyright Henry Hagger
Henry Hagger Studio 