James Holland, 20th Century Artist

Getting it right

In developing a painting or a study, Holland could work very quickly, or he could be meticulous and picky, producing a number of versions until he was happy with an image.  There are for example at least three versions of Approaches to Birmingham, which will feature later in the year when we look at his work from the 1960s.

In 1976, Holland produced a number of small images of boats he remembered from his childhood in the Medway towns.

 
[From a sketch book, 1976, watercolour and pen, in a private collection] 

He then built up an image of smaller boats loading their goods onto a larger vessel, ready to head out to sea.

 

[From a sketch book, 1976, watercolour and pen, in a private collection]

This was finally worked up into this magnificent oil painting, of which he was justifiably proud.

 
[Coaster loading cement from barges in the Medway c 1920, oil on board, signed, framed, 1976, exhibited at the Art Connoisseur Gallery, London, 1997, available for purchase.]

 

 

A summer in Vence, Alpes Maritimes

We spent the summer holidays (half of July and most of August) of 1974 staying in the town of Vence and looking after a flat and a dog for an ex-pat children's author. 

In those days, the Cote d'Azure still had a faded grandeur, and during a very social period, we rubbed shoulders with the artistic and the aristocratic including a member of the Esterhazy family, the Dowager Countess Karolyi, the artists Terry, Ruth and Ros Freeman and the composer Leslie Bricusse.  We went to parties at the Negresco in Nice and dinners in provencal restaurants, and saw the model Suzy Solidor on the beach near Cagnes sur Mer.

In amidst this social whirl, Holland found time to sketch and paint the scenes around him.  In particular he was fascinated in the view across the valley from our apartment to the pre-Alps behind, which at night were lit by wild bush fires in that hot summer.  During the day, the fires were tackled by the Canadair planes, scooping water up from the Mediterranean to drop on the fires.

The following three oil sketches show how Holland could work quickly, the paint applied with a palette knife rather than a brush, to create the sense of heat and perfume of a baking hot summer day near the Mediterranean.

 

 

 

 

 

Lowestoft harbour

The scope for capturing lively scenes at Lowestoft fishing harbour was immense and Holland was particularly fascinated by all the angles from which boats and activity could be viewed.  This scene is a particularly active one - presumably the boats were unloading a catch given the numbers of seagulls depicted.  The image is very strong and very lively, and although quite dark in colour palette, it is a picture that is easy to live with because of that activity.

 

Oil on canvas and mounted on board, c1960, signed, framed, exhibited at the Art Connoisseur Gallery London 1997 and at Chatham, available for purchase.