Heinz Koppel

Heinz Koppel

(b. 1919 Berlin, Germany – immigrated to Great Britain 1938 – d. 1980 Cwmerfyn, Wales)

Sennen, 1960 Oil on canvas 61 x 91 cm Signed (upper left) ‘Koppel’ Ben Uri Collection Presented by Frank Auerbach 1994

Koppel’s naïve, almost surreal style is highly personal, but his distinctive palette also draws on German Expressionism. Born into a Jewish family in 1919 in Berlin, he immigrated to England in 1938, studying under Martin Bloch. He moved to South Wales in 1944 to teach miners and their families in the newly-established Educational Settlements, also exhibiting at Jack Bilbo’s Modern Art Gallery, and later at the Beaux Art Gallery. Koppel returned to London in 1956, teaching at Camberwell and Hornsey Schools of Art and lecturing at Liverpool College. He spent his final years in Aberystwyth.