Henderson was born in Glasgow and studied firstly at the Glasgow School of Art under
Robert Greenlees and then obtained a MA at the
University of Glasgow. He was a portrait and landscape painter. His first exhibit was in 1884 at the
Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, where he became a member of the Council. He exhibited until 1924 at the Royal Glasgow Institute, at the
Royal Scottish Academy, and the
Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In Liverpool he exhibited at the
Walker Art Gallery and in Manchester at the
City Art Gallery. He also assisted at the
Glasgow International Exhibition (1901) and
Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry (1911) and served as a Governor of the Glasgow School of Art from 1906 to 1918. He was then appointed in 1918 as Director of the Glasgow School of Art having been acting director since 1914. He remained there until 1924. The School of Art and the Glasgow University strengthened their links under his leadership developing an Architectural Degree in 1924 which gave the School a teaching institutional status. He died suddenly in
Busby, East Renfrewshire near Glasgow in 1924. During his working time at the Glasgow School of Art he painted a portrait of Andrew Fergus (1827-1887) MD MRCS, which hangs in the
University of Strathclyde. ==References==