Epiphany, 1962
Albert Herbert (1925-2008)
Oil on canvas, 77 x 65 cm. Methodist Modern Art Collection, MCMAC: 020
Image Copyright © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. The Methodist Church Registered Charity no. 1132208
Biblical commentary
Matthew 2: 1–2, 11
This is a very dark, rich painting of blues, reds and browns. Herbert shows the three Magi at the extreme left of the painting, not richly dressed as kings, but perhaps rather wise, old men. They make their way along the track leading to the simple, four-square gabled stable where the baby Jesus in his manger is shown with Mary in a well-lit glowing interior. Epiphany, January 6th, is one of the six festivals that structure the Church year. In the Eastern Church, it celebrates the baptism of Jesus while in the Western Church it is concerned with the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles through the Magi’s worship of the baby Jesus.
Commentary based on A Guide to the Methodist Art Collection.
Artist biography
Born: Bow, London, UK, 1925
Died: Dorking, Surrey, UK, 2008
Early life
Albert Herbert left school early and, after working in newspapers, attended life drawing classes at St Martin’s School of Art in London in 1942. He was called up into the army in 1943 and his regiment fought its way from Normandy in 1944 through to Germany in 1945, suffering high casualties. He was spared this possible fate when his friend Bryan Forbes (the future film director) recruited him into the Stars in Battledress forces entertainment troupe on the false pretext of Herbert’s skills in designing stage scenery.
Education
Herbert then attended Wimbledon School of Art (1947-49) and the Royal College of Art, London (1949).
Life and career
Herbert travelled in Europe from 1952 to 1954. While in Rome, he encountered the Italian realists. On his return to the UK, he exhibited with the group of social realist artists, the Kitchen Sink school, which included John Bratby, Jack Smith, Derrick Greaves and Peter Coker.
He lectured at Dudley School of Art (1955-56) and at Birmingham College of Art (1956-64). He moved to London in 1964 to take up the post of principal lecturer at St Martin’s School of Art. He struggled with avant-garde modernism and abstraction and for a time stopped painting altogether. He found his way back to picture making and figurative work through etching, turning in particular to Biblical subjects. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1959.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Herbert maintained an interest in the theme of maternity which he combined with an interest in the Madonna and Child. He also became interested in what he called an ‘inward attitude’, inspired by the paintings of Francis Bacon. This ‘inward attitude’ can be seen in Epiphany (1962) in the Methodist Modern Art Collection. Herbert’s work became figurative, emotive and symbolic, drawing on a range of sources including his own life experiences and the Bible. A visit to the Far East funded by the British Council directed his mind to spirituality and religion and he began to paint again. However, a series of Stations of the Cross commissioned by an Anglican Church in 1987 was rejected as “too disturbing” by the Parochial Church Council. Although he did not complete the full series, these images remain amongst his most powerful.
In the late 1980s, Herbert began to receive offers of exhibitions and started selling again. He was recognised as an artist with a powerful and original poetic vision. Sister Wendy Beckett wrote in her 1993 book The Gaze of Love that Herbert was probably the greatest of contemporary religious artists.
Exhibitions and collections
Herbert‘s solo exhibitions include Birmingham College of Art (1963); St Botolph’s, London (1989, 1990); and Winchester Cathedral (1991). Group exhibitions include the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (regularly from 1951 to 2000); The religious spirit in contemporary art in Westminster Cathedral, London (1985); and Images of Christ in Northampton Museum and Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, London (1993).
His work is held in the collections of the Arts Council, London; the Royal College of Art, London; and Stoke on Trent Art Gallery among others.
Sources and further reading
David Buckman, Artists in Britain Since 1945: Volume 1 A to L. Vol. 1 of 2 volumes, (Bristol, Art Dictionaries Ltd, 2006), p. 724. The text is also available on the Art UK website: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/herbert-albert-19252008/view_as/grid/search/2024--keyword:albert-herbert/page/1 (accessed 19 September 2024)
Richard Davey, ‘Obituary: Albert Herbert’, Church Times. 30 May 2008. Available at: www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2008/30-may/gazette/obituary-albert-herbert (accessed 19 September 2024)
England & Co. Gallery. ‘Albert Herbert – Biography,’ 2008. Available at: www.englandgallery.com/artists/artist_bio/?mainId=54 (accessed 19 September 2024)
Jane England, ‘Obituary: Albert Herbert: Artist of powerful poetic vision,’ The Independent Online. 20 May 2008. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/albert-herbert-artist-of-powerful-poetic-vision-831051.html (accessed 19 September 2024)
Robert Macdonald ‘Obituary: Albert Herbert,’ The Guardian. 11 June 2008. Available at: www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/jun/11/art (accessed 19 September 2024)
Seeing the Spiritual: A Guide to the Methodist Modern Art Collection, (Oxford, Methodist Modern Art Collection, 2018), p. 54-55
Roger Wollen, Catalogue of the Methodist Church Collection of Modern Christian Art with an Account of the Collection’s History, (Oxford, The Trustees of the Methodist Collection of Modern Christian Art, 2003), p. 80-83