Original semi-abstract oil painting in bespoke frame
New Tree (1997) by David Holt
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
Painted in Spring 1997, this is an oil on canvas in a bespoke wooden frame (it is not glazed). The outer frame has been coloured reddish to complement the painting. The frame measures 50 × 39cm and the painting is 40.5 × 29.5cm.
This is a work of abstract expressionism, showing David Holt's response to a new tree shape in his garden in Kent. Comprising of bold colours but abstract shapes, this is a painting to captivate.
Signed by David Holt to the reverse, and dated March 1997.
David Holt (1928–2014). Born in Hythe, Kent. Painter and Lecturer in Art. After National Service, he trained at the Canterbury School of Art, the Hammersmith School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools where he was awarded a medal for drawing and the Knapping Prize. He joined a studio-workshop with Gerald Holtom (designer of the CND symbol) in 1958 where he designed and produced proscenium curtains for schools. In 1958 he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship and travelled across America, producing many drawings and prints of the Pueblo Indians and their life-dance in Santa Fe in New Mexico, where he also worked with artist Agnes Sims. He returned to England in 1960 and continued to paint and work on large textile appliques for schools, churches, and private houses including Spade House in Kent, the former home of H G Wells.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1962, and in 1964 was commissioned to design and make a large textile applique 'Christ in Majesty' which still hangs in the chapel of Christ Church College in Canterbury.
He was Head of Art at Canterbury Christ Church University until his retirement in 1995. He exhibited widely in the UK and the States and worked with many art societies and summer schools across East Kent.
His work can be found in both private and public collections throughout the UK and America, including the Yale Centre for British Art. His painting "Coastal Watcher" was recently used for the dustwrapper on Modernism and Memory: Rhoda Pritzker and the Art of Collecting (Yale University Press, 2016).
Condition
The painting and the frame are in very good condition, but with one small puncture to the painting 4cms down from the top and 11cms in from the right, but is only noticeable if held up to the light.
Price
£80.00
