Biography
Hamish (Henry) Basil Macpherson (né Kendall; b. Hartlepool, Co. Durham, UK 1915 - d. Brynmawr, Gwent, Wales, UK 2005) studied at the Elam School of Arts and Crafts, Auckland, New Zealand between 1928-34 and then at Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, under John Skeaping in the School of Painted and Sculptured Architectural Decoration and Stained Glass, 1934-1939. His first exhibition was in 1934 with three other Skeaping students: John and Vivian Cole and Michael Foley, Four Sculptor’s at Picture Hire Ltd, 56 Brook Street, London W1, opposite Claridges Hotel. Later in his career he showed with Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Jacob Epstein, Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin. His early works were bronze and electroplate casts, he also made wood carvings of animals but his sculptures soon became more abstract. After the Second World War, he returned to Central School of Arts and Crafts to teach modelling to aspiring silversmiths (1948-53), with a parallel appointment until 1954 at Sir John Cass School of Art teaching sculpture and modelling. Macpherson then became a designer for Vauxhall Motors but continued to exhibit. Throughout his life he lived in London, Bedfordshire and Sussex, retiring to Mitchell Troy Common, in Gwent, Wales.
