Michael Heindorff b. 1949

Michael Heindorff was born and raised in former West Germany and received a national scholarship to the nearby University of Braunschweig, where he focused on painting. After graduating in 1974, he was awarded a DAAD Scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, where he emigrated and shortly after won the John Moores Prize for painting in Liverpool.

After completing his studies, Heindorff began his career as a painter and printmaker. His early work focused on natural and urban landscapes but evolved into figurative and then abstract art. Despite this shift, he retained his natural subjects, incorporating motifs of trees and foliage. This time, however, Heindorff used swirling shapes, vibrant colors, and bold outlines rather than adhering to strict realism. These resulting child-like images, stylized natural forms, and bold color palette reflect those of previous artists, such as the Fauvists and Henri Matisse.

As a printmaker, Heindorff created screenprints, etchings, and drypoints at the renowned Kelpra Studio in North London. Meanwhile, his works and career were managed and represented by the pioneering Bernard Jacobson Gallery in London and later, the Marlborough Gallery in New York. He was also a member of The London Group, the city's historic art collective. He maintained a residence-studio in the bohemian neighborhood of Shoreditch, living alongside prominent poster artists Bob Linney and Ken Meharg. During this time, he also began his long and distinguished career as a professor at the Royal College of Art and at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

Heindorff currently lives and works between London and Berlin, and his works are part of the permanent collections of the Victoria Gallery & Museum in Liverpool, the British Museum, and the Tate Gallery in London.