Keith Henderson (artist)

Keith Henderson OBE RP RSW RWS ROI
A Wrecked Railway Bridge near the Hindenburg Line near Villers Guislain (1917) (Art IWM Art 246)
Born	17 April 1883 Scotland
Died	24 February 1982(1982-02-24) (aged 98) South Africa
Nationality	Scottish
Alma mater	Marlborough College Slade School of Art Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Known for	painting

Keith Henderson OBE RP RSW RWS ROI (17 April 1883 – 24 February 1982) was a Scottish painter who worked in both oils and watercolours, and who is known for his book illustrations and his poster work for London Transport and the Empire Marketing Board. He had a long professional career that included periods as a war artist in both the First World War, in which he served in the trenches, and in the Second World War.

Henderson was born in Scotland and brought up in Aberdeenshire and in London. He was one of three children born to George MacDonald Henderson, a barrister at Lincoln's Inn, and Constance Helen, née Keith. He attended Orme Square School in London and Marlborough College. Henderson studied at the Slade School of Art before continuing to develop his art at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. While in Paris he shared a studio with Maxwell Armfield. During the First World War Henderson served as a Captain with the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry on the Western Front. He depicted his experiences of warfare there in several paintings and in a book, Letters to Helen: Impressions of an Artist on the Western Front, first published in 1917. 'Helen' was Helen Knox-Shaw, who Henderson married in 1917 at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

Between the two world wars Henderson travelled extensively in Africa and South America and would later include images of the flora and fauna he saw on these trips in his book illustrations. Henderson worked as an illustrator, designing posters and book jackets. He illustrated books by W. H. Hudson and Eric Rücker Eddison, including The Worm Ouroboros, and, with Norman Wilkinson, an edition of Geoffrey Chaucer's translation of The Romaunt of the Rose. He produced poster designs for both London Transport and the Empire Marketing Board, who sent him to paint in Cyprus for over a year.