The Life of Henry Tonks

Henry Tonks (1862 - 1937) was a surgeon before taking up a career in art.

He wasborn in Solihull, educated in Bristol and studied medicine in Brighton and London. From 1888 he took evening art classes at Westminster School of Art; by 1892 hehad begun teaching at the Slade School of Fine Art, where he became an influentialinstructor to the likes of Stanley Spencer, Augustus John and Paul Nash.

DuringWorld War I he resumed his career as a surgeon and famously created a series of pasteldrawings of facial injury cases.

By 1918 Tonks had became an official War Artisttouring the Western Front with John Singer Sargent; in 1919, he visited Archangel,Russia.

Post-war he continued as Slade Professor of Fine Art.

He died at his home inChelsea, London in 1937.