Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

Born in France, Gaudier-Brzeska moved to London in 1910 with
his companion, Polish writer, Sophie Brzeska whom he met in Paris. Although more than
double his age, they began an intense relationship, with Gaudier annexing her surname to Gaudier- Brzeska. The couple never actually married. Sophie often dismissed their relationship and paid prostitutes to sleep with him so she would not have to have relations with him herself. Gaudier-Brzeska became hugely interested in the primitive sculptures of the human form that he saw at the British Museum. Although much influenced by machine imagery – he was a founding member of the Vorticist Group, who responded to the urban environment – his work remained in the figurative tradition. At the start of the First World War, Gaudier-Brzeska enlisted with the French army. He received a decoration for bravery before being tragically killed in the trenches at the early age of 23, Sophie Brzeska was admitted to an asylum and died soon after.