Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale this lovely oil on canvas by the artist Edward Henry Holder, who has signed the painting in the lower left hand corner and entitled in verso on the edge of the canvas 'A Surrey Millpond'. The painting depicts a tranquil scene of the millpond, with a fisherman in a punt on the edge of the pond. The pond is surrounded with grassy banks and groups of trees and there is a small building partially hidden by trees, to the right of the painting. There is a small bridge to the left. The artist has captured the light streaming through the trees, the mistiness of the distance and the reflection of the colourful sky and trees in the still waters in a masterful fashion. This work must have been painted while the artist was in residence in Reigate, Surrey between the 1870s, or again in the 1890s and early 1900s.

Edward Henry Holder was born in Middleham, Leyburn, Yorkshire on 14th October 1847. He was the son of Henry Wharrey Holder, an artist and picture restorer, and his wife Henrietta, who seems from census records to have spent a lot of his time away from home, leaving Henrietta to bring up the children alone.

In 1868 he married Annie Fowler Seals in Scarborough, both aged 21 and, by 1871, they were living at 100 Holmesdale Road, Reigate, Surrey, with his occupation being listed as Landscape Painter. By 1881 they had moved to 28 Marine Road, Scarborough and in 1891 and 1901, they lived at Oak Hill, Chart Lane, Reigate and 5 Hatchlands Road Reigate, respectively. They had 10 children in total. In the 1911 Census, he and the remainder of his single children were living at 128 Wrottesley Road, Harlesden, Willesden, now in North West London. He died in Willesden in 1922.

He exhibited widely between 1864 and 1917, with Graves Dictionary (which only cover the period up to 1893) showing that he exhibited 50 paintings in London exhibitions up to 1891. However, from 1880 -1917 he exhibited in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and at the Royal Hibernian Academy. At some stage, he visited Africa, as he painted several works featuring the Victoria Falls, one of which was exhibited at the Royal Academy.

There are 18 of his paintings in the National Collection, which can be viewed at BBC - Your Paintings. Their locations are Tameside Museums & Galleries Service (2 works), Royal Albert Memorial Museum Exeter, Sunderland Museum, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery (2), York Museums Trust (9), the Victoria & Albert Museum, Stockport Heritage Services, The Whitaker Museum and the Usher Gallery in Lincolnshire.

His biographical details may be found in The Dictionary of Victorian Painters by Christopher Wood, The Dictionary of British Artists (Collectors' Club) and the Dictionary of British Artists by Grant M. Waters. His many auction results may be found at the usual sites.

The painting has been newly framed in an ornate 3 1/4" gilt frame and will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size: 15 1/2" x 11 3/4" - 39.35cm x 29.85cm

Frame size: 22 1/8" x 18 3/8" - 56.1cm x 46.65cm

Medium: Oils on Windsor & Newton canvas

Condition: Excellent. There are no repairs, craquelure, paint loss or stretcher marks. The frame is new.