It was inevitable that as one of the three contributors to one
of the best-selling poetry anthologies of all time Adrian Henri would be
thought of by many as primarily a poet. The half-million sales of The Mersey Sound, first published in
1967, launched Henri into national fame as a writer but it was as a painter
that much of his creative talents were directed and which are perhaps the more
enduring legacy.
A man who loved the city of Liverpool, he never followed many
of his peers to the bright lights of London, he was in fact born in Birkenhead
on 10th April 1932. His father was a seaman from Mauritius who had
settled in Birkenhead where he ran the Seamen’s Mission. The family moved to
Rhyl when he was aged 6 and he was educated at St. Asaph Grammar school. He
studied fine art at King’s College Newcastle from 1951 to 1955 and taught at a
Preston school then settled in Liverpool, lecturing in art at Manchester and
Liverpool schools of art.
The nature of the man makes it difficult to pigeon-hole him
into any particular discipline but running through all his endeavours was a
theme of communication and performance. This found its natural outlet in the Liverpool Scene poetry band,
featuring amongst others guitarist Andy Roberts of the folk rock band
Plainsong. CBS released an album of Henri and Roger McGough’s poetry with
musical accompaniment which was promoted by John Peel on his pirate radio Perfumed
Garden show.
I am ill-equipped to make any assessment of Adrian Henri’s
art, despite a long-standing likeness for his painting The Entry of Christ
into Liverpool which, reminiscent of Sgt Pepper, features the Beatles,
Arthur Dooley, John Gorman and Roger McGough of The Scaffold, Charlie
Mingus and a number of Henri’s friends. There are many appraisals of his work available
on line and an interesting assessment in John Willett’s superb book Art In A
City [Methuen 1967].
Henri had a variety of homes around Liverpool 8. From the
late 1950’s until about 1963 he lived in a basement flat at 24 Falkner Square
L8. In the aforementioned book John
Willett described trying to seek out Henri at “a virtually abandoned house
in the corner of Falkner Square. No bell, no names on the door…..I think I
called out in the brown hall, but no movement. Then as an afterthought I tried
the steps and found a bell by the basement door. That was Henri’s…”. He
later moved to 64 Canning Street L8 and lived for many years, until his death
in 2000, at 21 Mount Street L1 opposite LIPA.
Henri married Joyce Wilson in 1959, the marriage ending in
divorce. For 10 years he lived with the future Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. For
the last 15 years of his life his partner was Catherine Marcangeli. He had no
children.
Adrian Henri suffered a stroke in 1998 from which he never
fully recovered. He died on 20th December 2000, having been granted
the Freedom of the City of Liverpool the previous day.
