Max Heimann

Max Heimann

(b. 1909 Berlin, Germany – immigrated to China 1939, then USA c. 1945 – d. c. 1994 California, USA)

Hands of the Artist’s Wife with Bird Oil on board 34.5 x 29.3 cm Signed (lower right) ‘Heimann’ Ben Uri Collection Presented by the artist’s widow, Ellen Benger

Here the artist focuses on a tender moment between human and bird, playing on notions of restraint versus freedom, where the bird, which at first glance appears tethered – though in fact it remains free – chooses to remain. Heimann studied under Emil Orlik and Arthur Segal in Germany, before fleeing to Shanghai in China in 1939, where he remained throughout the Second World War. Afterwards he settled in California, illustrating a different trajectory from that of the majority of artists in this exhibition, who settled in Great Britain. Heimann’s oeuvre includes portraiture, street scenes and many still-lifes, often with a sense of heightened realism.