Uhlman was born in Stuttgart, where he studied law and practised as a barrister - but at the age of 32, he left Germany for Paris, and taught himself to paint. In 1936 he arrived in London, speaking no English and having no prospects beyond his engagement to a daughter of the wealthy Lord Croft, who was initially far from pleased about the match. Uhlman recalled his early days in Paris in his reminiscences, The Making of an Englishman (1960): ‘Perhaps if I had gone to an art school and learned the ABC of art the way would have been easier. But I felt that I was too old to start with boys of sixteen. Every year counted; I had no time to walk – I had to run.’ From the start his pictures had a directness and virility that was immediately recognised, and rewarded; his first show, in Montmartre, was a sell-out. When he visited New York, after the war, the monumental outline and pattern of the Manhattan skyline gave him fresh imagery, ideally suited to his original eye and technique.