Original abstract expressionist oil painting, framed
Painting of the Hut by David Holt, 1990
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Printing Details
Painted in February 1990, this is an oil on canvas in a bespoke wooden frame (but not glazed). The frame measures 43 × 73.5cm and the painting is 30 × 60.5cm.
This is a work of abstract expressionism and is on the theme of a painting within a painting. The large blue canvas holds a darker blue shape, with smaller shapes within it, including the 'painting of the hut' (detailed in pencil), a circular shape and a flowing red ribbon which runs the length of the painting.
Signed and dated lower right, and titled to the reverse.
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 good condition. There is a little surface abrasion to the painting, and a small spill of varnish to the inner segment of the frame to the left hand side (this could quite conceivably be part of the artwork). Some smattering of discoloration to the frame but the overall impression is that this remains an impressive painting.
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