Hugh Thompson on the Story of the 'Savage Putney Boy'
Why Henri Gaudier-Brzeska has a blue plaque by the railway arches
Left: the Blue plaque. Right: A Gaudier–Brzeska in the Tate Britain
May 11, 2026
Henri Gaudier–Brzeska (1891-1915) the French sculptor who lived in Winthorpe Road, East Putney and had a studio in the railway arches now has a whole room at Tate Britain dedicated to his art. His old home is remembered with an English Heritage blue plaque. He came to London in 1910 to live with his 20-year older mistress Polish writer Sophie Brzeska. They adopted the same names so they could live as brother and sister.
For the last five years his studio has been home to the Scandinavian aquavit Vintersol Distillery. Manager Sasha Bladt-Cohen says, “We do get a steady stream of visitors who take a picture of the plaque some come in and have a drink and look the artist’s drawings we have.”
Artistically Gaudier-Brzeska moved from being a disciple of Rodin to coming under the influence of the futurists Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis. He was stylistically affected by Jacob Epstein and in his turn he influenced Henry Moore. Because of his relative poverty he could only afford material for smaller pieces. His drawings are also memorable and well represented at Tate Britain. In 1914 at the start of World War 1 he enlisted and was killed a year later.
In 1972 Ken Russell made a film Savage Messiah based on Gaudier- Brzeska’s biography which starred Scott Anthony, Dorothy Tutin and Helen Mirren. This is free to watch on line.
Hugh Thompson
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