Henri Philippe Neumans (1847-1912)

Henri Neumans was born in Antwerp and educated there as an painter, at the Royal Academy of Arts. Neumans came to Scarborough to work in the painting department of Oliver Sarony’s studio sometime around 1867. In 1870 he married Frances Emma Briggs the daughter of William Keighley Briggs, the head of Sarony’s portrait painting department. After 15 years of working for Sarony’s studio Neumans left to work from the premises of Haydon Hare in St Nicholas Street. His main business at this time was still the production of portrait paintings, mainly from photographs. He had for some years also been producing landscape paintings for exhibition. His brother, Alphonse (1852-1893), visited him in 1870 and following Alphonse’s marriage to Elizabeth Lawton of Wakefield he also settled in Scarborough where he too operated as a successful artist (staying until at least 1890). Following the departure from Scarborough of the Paris photographer Numa Blanc in 1884, Neumans purchased his negatives and offered duplicates for sale in oils and watercolours. It is likely that he learned and practiced photography mainly as tool to his portrait business which was the main focus of his adverts at this time. He was often to be found listed as an artist working in the studio of other photographers. He rented rooms from John Inskip at 19 Esplanade and also worked with William Dobson Brigham, who had following Sarony’s death in 1879 had employed Briggs as his resident painter. In 1889 he was declared bankrupt mainly due to failed investments, owing £1334 to a variety of creditors. His income is listed as ‘close upon £400’ with an annual expenditure of £454 which included £45 studio rental to Inskip (he also paid 2/6d a week for the use of equipment). He was working the following year under the name Henry Philip Neumans, advertising his photographic studio in the Esplanade. He exhibited four paintings in the York Summer Exhibition in 1897, claiming the title, Knight of the Persian order of the lion and the Sun. He was also awarded a gold medal from King Leopold I, of Belgium for a ‘Study from the Nude’.

Neumans had married Frances Emma Briggs in 1870. They had three children, Yves (b.1873), Beatrice (b.1875) and Fanny Kathlein. (b.1880). Frances was a musician who studied under Sir Charles Hallé. Following Neumans bankruptcy advertised piano lessons and by 1891 was describing herself as a Professor of Music.

A number of Neumans’ portraits were mentioned in the papers. A Portrait of Col. Fife-Cookson (of the Crescent, Scarborough) was displayed in the window of Wanless and Hacker’s in 1880. His best known portrait is probably of Lord Frederick Cavendish, MP, now in Bradford Museums and Galleries collections, but displayed in a frame by Haydon Hare in 1882.