Josef Herman was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1911. He came from a poor family in the Jewish slum area and was the eldest of three children. His formal education ceased at the age of twelve and he became an apprentice printer-compositor, but due to lead poisoning, could not continue in that trade. He then set out to become a commercial artist, designing book jackets and posters. The work led him supplied him with interesting contacts with members of the Warsaw intelligentsia, many of them with strong left-wing views. He was also encouraged to study art and took evening classes with Professor Slupski, which led to him being admitted in 1930 to the Warsaw School of Art and Decoration. Despite having no visible means of support, he spent 18 months there. In 1932 he had his first exhibition in Warsaw, in a framers shop, showing mostly large Expressionistic watercolours. He came under the spell of Edvard Munch and participated in avant garde art groups and commenced writing. By 1936 he became a leading light of ‘The Phrygyan Bonnet’ a group intent on painting people at work. In 1938 left Poland for Brussels, where he was introduced to many of the prominent artists working in the city at the time. The invasion of Belgium by Germany in the summer of 1940 forced him to leave for France and then Britain, where he first lived in Glasgow and encountered his fellow countryman Jankel Adler, before moving to London, where he had a show at Lefevre Galleries. On learning about the death of his entire family in the Holocaust, Herman commenced a visual diary of his childhood. That was rediscovered in 1984 and formed the basis of a touring show ‘Memory of Memories’ in London and Glasgow. In, a joint one with Lowry – at Reid and Lefevre, where he met Gustave Delbanco, which led to his association with the Roland, Browse and Delbanco Gallery in Cork Street for over 30 years. In 1944 he visited the mining village of Ystradgynlais in South Wales on holiday but decided to settle, first at the Pen y Bont Inn. There, he commenced a series of sombre-hued paintings and ink drawings of miners and their environment. Herman’s style was bold and distinctive. It often involves strong shapes with minimal detail. Much of his work took working people as its subject, including grape pickers, fishermen and, most famously, miners. In 1943 he had his first London exhibition in a defunct factory and converted into living and studio space. It was in 1951 that he received a commission to paint the mural entitled Miners for the Pavilion of Minerals, for the Festival of Britain. His eleven years at Ystradgynlais concluded in 1955. He moved to Suffolk with Dr Nini Ettlinger whom he married in 1961. The tragic death of their young daughter prompted them to move away and from 1972 they lived in West London. Herman’s artistic achievements were probably more appreciated during the 1950s and 60s, when he had a number of one-man exhibitions throughout the UK. in 1953 he had a touring show that started at Leicester, then went to York, Hull and Wakefield. A major retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1956 was the last time he had a large public gallery showing his work in London. Outside London, he fared better and had major one man shows in Edinburgh, Sheffield, Bradford , Bristol – in 1958-59. The Glynn Vivian mounted a highly successful retrospective in 1963 and 1965 was the last time he had a major touring show which travelled to Middlesborough, The Laing in Newcastle, Abbot Hall in Kendal, Sunderland, Darlington, Colchester and the Towner in Eastbourne (1966). In 1967 the Fitzwilliam showed drawings from the Peter Stuyvesant Collection and that same year, he had solo exhibitions at the Plymouth City and Reading City Art Galleries. His work was featured at The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 1969. Scotland hosted further one man shows in the seventies: he had a major retrospective in 1975 in Glasgow which toured to Edinburgh’s Scottish Museum of Modern Art, before it went to the National Museum of Wales. His retrospective at the Camden Art Centre in 1980 was well received. He had a retrospective at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff in 1992. His work appeared in mixed exhibitions in British Council shows, all over the world. In 1981 he was appointed OBE for his services to British Art. He was elected RA in 1990 and received the Silver Medal for his services to Welsh Arts in 1992. Herman continued to work up to his death in 2000.