Background
Houthuesen was born in Amsterdam. His father was Jean Charles Pierre Houthuesen, a painter and musician. In 1912, following the death of his father, he came to London.
He became naturalized in 1922.
Houthuesen was born in Amsterdam. His father was Jean Charles Pierre Houthuesen, a painter and musician. In 1912, following the death of his father, he came to London.
He became naturalized in 1922.
He attended the Royal College of Art between 1923 and 1927, with contemporaries Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Edward Burra, Ceri Richards and Cecil Collins.
He took art classes at Saint Martin"s School of Art while working for a furniture maker, and in an architect"s office. During the Second World War he worked as a draughtsman at Doncaster. After the War he taught at Street Gabriel"s College, Camberwell, and collected artworks that became the College collection.
Street Gabriel"s Art Department was run by the painter Catherine Dean, who Houthuesen had married in 1931.
Each year during the 1930s Houthuesen and Dean visited Trelogan, Dean"s family home, where Houthuesen painted monumental portraits of colliers. In 1976 the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast Walk to the Moon - The Story of Albert Houthuesen, a film about Houthuesen"s his life and work.
Souren Melikian, in a feature article on Houthuesen in the International Herald Tribune wrote: "I suspect that Houthuesen will come to be seen as one of the great figures in post-World World War II Western art". During his career, Houthuesen possibly painted about 2000 works, and although many were acquired by major art galleries and collectors, few have been publicly exhibited.
His work was influenced by Rembrandt, Constable, Turner and van Gogh.
Houthuesen"s art is autobiographical and belongs to no 20th century school. He worked in virtual isolation for sixty years, producing still-lives, landscapes, seascapes, and portraits, as well as biblical, mythical and allegorical scenes. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
The British Museum, London
City Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
City Art Gallery, Leeds
National Museum Cardiff, Wales
Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon
The Potteries Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
Tate Britain, London
The Theatre Museum, London
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Victoria and Albert Museum, London.