Early Years
Born in 1947 in Germany to a Polish father and Belarusian mother, Henry Orlik first arrived in England in 1948. The early part of Orlik’s life was spent in various Polish resettlement camps in Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds. The Orliks, like many Polish families, eventually settled in Swindon, Wiltshire. In 1963 Orlik enrolled at Swindon Art College where he studied for three years, continuing his studies at Gloucestershire College of Art, Cheltenham between 1969 and 1972.
1970s
Henry was already making a name for himself by 1971 when he entered a painting at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1971 . In 1972 he had a highly successful one man show at the world-renowned Surrealist Art Centre, Acoris, in Brook Street, London W1. Orlik participated in Acoris’ mixed Surrealist Masters exhibitions in 1972 and 1974. In these exhibitions his work was exhibited alongside many of the most well-known Surrealist artists such as
1980 Onwards
Orlik lived and worked in the United States between 1980 and 1985. After a brief stay in Los Angeles, he mostly resided in New York, exhibiting in the 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University in 1983. Orlik was greatly influenced by his time in the United States. Many of the works painted in the 1980s contain monumental structures inspired by the American architecture such as the solid, Spanish style villas in California and the looming skyscrapers of New York City.
Orlik returned to London in 1985 but he took a stance against art dealers whom he saw as taking the lions’ share of the profits and about whom he took several swipes in his work. He sold his paintings privately but shied away from publicity and rarely exhibited.