Elsie Marian Henderson (British, 1880-1967)

Seated Leopard

Charcoal and crayon

11.3/8 x 7.7/8 in. (28.8 x 20 cm.)

Provenance: The estate of the artist Sally Hunter Fine Art, London

Elsie Marian Henderson, later Baroness de Coudenhove, (28 May 1880 – 1967) was a British painter and sculptor notable for her animal paintings.^[1]

Elsie Marian Henderson was born in Eastbourne in Sussex and with the encouragement of her mother, a keen amateur painter, she attended the South Kensington Schools before studying at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1903 and 1905. She continued her art education in Paris and in 1916, after returning to London she enrolled at the Chelsea Polytechnic, where she was taught lithography by the artist Francis Ernest Jackson.

In London she became a frequent visitor to London Zoo and animal drawings and paintings became a major theme of her work. London Transport commissioned a poster from her to promote travel to the Zoo, which was, despite its unusual design, well received.

In 1924 she had her first solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries London. The exhibition consisted of drawings, lithographs and bronze sculptures of, often savage, animals. Between 1927 and 1938 several works were featured in exhibitions hosted by the Society of Graver Printers in Colour.

In 1928 Henderson married Henri Baron de Coudenhove, the French consul to Guernsey. Baron de Coudenhove died towards the end of the war and in 1946 Elsie moved to Hadlow Down in Sussex.  She continued painting into the last years of her life.

During her lifetime Henderson exhibited at the Royal Academy, with the Women’s Internation Art Club and the Society of Women’s Artists. A joint retrospective exhibition of Henderson's work, with that of her friend Orovida Pissarro, was held in 1985 at the Michael Parkin Gallery.

Works by Henderson can currently be found at The Tate, The British Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Manchester City Art Gallery.