In the Wood (1988) by David Holt
Original oil painting of a ritual figure inspired by the Kentish landscape and Stravinsky's Chant de Rossignol
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
Painted in 1988, this is an oil on canvas in a bespoke wooden frame (it is not glazed). The frames has been gently coloured with shades of green to complement the painting. The frame measures 47 × 36.5cm and the painting is 35 × 25cm.
This painting is titled "In the Wood", and, unusually for David, has a subtitle "Chant du Rossignol" (The Song of the Nightingale). The painting has quite a bit behind its creation, it features a large central white figure, almost ritualistic in appearance, with arms outstretched, in the manner of a cloaked Vitruvian man. That figure is based on both the ghostly forms that are seen in woodlands at night, but also the towering shapes of the pylons that carve a path through part of the Kentish landscape. The pylons emit a low hum, which is what caused David to subtitle the painting. Stravinsky's Chant du Rossignol is a poeme symphonique taken from his opera The Nightingale, one of the themes of the work is the natural versus the artificial, with the sound emanating from the pylons being in conflict (or harmony) with the nightingales.
Signed, dated and titled by David Holt 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 is in very good condition, the frame is in good order, though the lower left joint is a little weak but all it needs is a little strengthening. An impressive piece.
If you would like any further information or have any queries, please feel free to email at walterbudge@btinternet.com or geoff@coxandbudge.co.uk
Price
£80.00
