Henri (Henryk) Hayden was born on December 24 in the Polish capital city of Warsaw in a wealthy Jewish family selling wine. From childhood, he showed his painting talent.
1883 - 1970
Henri (Henryk) Hayden
description
A Polish avant-garde artist of Jewish origin, who worked in France for most of his life and became a full-fledged representative of the Paris school of painting. The artist’s works are in the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art of Paris (Center J. Pompidou), the prestigious London Tate Modern Gallery and the Museum du Petit Palais (Geneva, Switzerland), the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia) and other prestigious collections of fine art.
Key ideas:
– In one of his interviews, Henryk Hayden said that during a few years he “absorbed and digested all French painting”, and “absorbed Cubism” in 1915. This led the artist, whose style became fully defined and original, to the creative synthesis of various methods and techniques of avant-garde fine art.
– The peculiarity of the Polish artist’s manner was determined by the fact that he studied engineering before deciding to devote his entire life to painting. Hayden, as an engineer, was interested in the work of Cezanne and his Cubist followers – it was possible to “redraw” the depicted object and rebuild it at his discretion. Hayden demonstrated virtuosity in this technique using spectacular lines that very deftly separate parts of objects, as well as contrasting textures of fragments. Apart from that, the student of the Warsaw painting school initially highlighted different forms with colours and applied a perspective reduction of objects, coming to small elliptic signs.
– According to art expert K. Green, Hayden always has «a direct link to the observable reality», but the master focuses on the “self-sufficiency” of reproducing objects “for himself”, that is to say, according to his perception of the reality. At the same time, the primary task is “the orderliness of general harmony” and the priority of “autonomous purity” of all components of the composition.
– The master experimented with the monochrome gamma in his paintings of the late period. Not losing their figurativeness, the elegiac paintings “The green landscape” and “The symphony in green”, “The red field” and the landscape “Mandolina” rather express the mood than the reality.
– A great connoisseur of music, Henryk Hayden constantly depicted musicians and their instrument throughout his long creative career; the painting themselves are based on the rhythm of elements, even those, which have not yet acquired smooth lines, but consist of more strict geometric figures. The meditation and clarity of view characterize the last years of the artist.
1883
1902 - 1907
1907 - 1908
1911
1914 - 1915
1917 - 1919
1920
1940 - 1950
1960
1970
The artist was born
Studied at studios and workshops of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts
At the insistance of his family, he studied engineering at the Warsaw Polytechnic University and studied at studios and workshops of the Warsaw School of Fine Arts, demonstrating there his brilliant painting and drawing skills.
He moved to Paris
Having received financial support from his father, he moved to Paris, rented a workshop on Boulevard Saint-Michel and initially lived independently. One year later, he entered the painting school La Pallet, where his teacher was artist George DeValier. His fellow countryman, artist Vladislav Slevinsky, introduced the art of Gauguin and the artists of the Pont-Avensk school to him; the Hayden spent a summer in Brittany, including Pont-Aven. Repeatedly visited the UK.
His first solo exhibition
His first solo exhibition was held at Paris Galerie Druet; it had a positive, but not too noisy resonance among critics and in the press. The following year, Hayden found strong support for his ideas in the art of Cezanne and decided to start a research in the style of post-impressionism.
Signed a contract with art dealers Leon Rosenberg and Charles Malpel
Signed a contract with art dealers Leon Rosenberg and Charles Malpel. Soon he found himself a new studio on Boulevard Raspail near Montparnasse and made many acquaintances with Cubists (Metzinger, Picasso, Lipschitz, Gris, and others), who by that time had already declared themselves by several directions of the style. As a great lover of music, the artist attended the “Group of Six”, illustrated the program to the performances of Erik Satie. During the war, he lived in Mougins, where he met and became friends with spouses Robert and Sonia Delaunay.
Participated in the exhibition “Lyra and the Palette”
Participated in the exhibition “Lyra and the Palette” (Paris) among such famous authors as Vlaminck, Friesz, Lough, Severini, and others. Soon one of the first dealers of Hayden, L. Rosenberg, organized a personal exhibition of his ward, which was a great success.
The artist’s painting became more imaginative
By the middle of the decade, the artist’s painting became more imaginative; this mostly concerned landscape painting, which turned out to be extremely successful financially. 
Became interested in ideas of the theater of the absurd
Living in province during the wartime (Auvergne, Mougins on the French Riviera with Delaunay spouses), the master met Samuel Beckett and became interested in his ideas of the theater of the absurd. This made him partially return to a peculiar post-cubistic painting style, when landscapes and still lifes became more simplified and more definitely composed than in previous periods.
The artist's large retrospective exhibitions
The artist’s large retrospective exhibitions were held at the Museum of Lyon (1960), at the London Waddington Gallery (1962), and at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris – “Hayden. Sixty years of painting 1908-1968.” Paintings of the master were at the Swiss, English, Australian museums and galleries; some were in the artist’s homeland.
The artist died
The artist died on May 12 at the age of 86 years. His works included in private collections are sold at many auctions and are always in demand.