Self-portrait, c. 1940s, pencil, Current Whereabouts Unknown
Illustrator and painter Susan Einzig (née Suzanne Henriette Einzig) was born in Dahlem, Berlin in 1922 and studied briefly at the Breuer School of Design before boarding one of the final Kindetransports to England in 1939. She studied at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts, relocated to Northampton during the war, where her tutors included painters Bernard Meninsky, William Roberts, and Morris Kestleman, illustrator John Farleigh, and Gertrude Hermes, who specialised in wood engraving, a 'nourishing' experience followed by a difficult period as a technical draughtsman for the War Office. After the war she pursued a career as a freelance illustrator, specialising in children’s books, notably, Philippa Pearce’s Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958) for which she was awarded the National Book League’s Illustration Prize. From 1947 onwards she was also a regular illustrator for the best-selling Radio Times magazine. She also taught at Camberwell School of Arts (1946–51), where she met artist John Minton - a close friend and significant early influence - followed by St Martin’s (1948–51), Beckenham (1959–60), and Chelsea Schools of Art (1959–65), where she became a senior lecturer in 1966 until her retirement in 1988. A member of the Artist Partners and the Society of Industrial Artists, she also designed posters for London Transport and the Empire Tea Board, among others; in her later career, she resumed painting and held a solo exhibition in 1975.
