Henry James Holiday

Henry James Holiday, British 1839-1927- Three designs for stained glass decorations; for Collearn House, Aucherarder depicting personifications of day and night: for the Chapel of the University of St Andrews, eight lights depicting the personifications of branches of educations and tracery: for Upavon Church, depicting the nativity, four lights and tracery: the second signed, the third signed and dated 1918, one chalk the other two watercolour, 57x40cm., 48x26.5cm, 41x31cm respectively, (3) Provenance: "The Nativity" with label from the Southgate Gallery, Shropshire, spring exhibition May 1983; Alan B Gateley and thence by descent

LOT 16 HENRY HOLIDAY 1839-1927 THREE DESIGNS FOR STAINED GLASS DECORATIONS; FOR COLLEARN HOUSE,AUCHTERARDER DEPICTING PERSONIFICATIONS OF DAY AND NIGHT; FOR THECHAPEL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREW'S, 8 LIGHTS DEPICTINGPERSONIFICATIONS OF BRANCHES OF EDUCATION AND TRACERY; FOR UPAVONCHURCH, THE NATIVITY, 4 LIGHTS AND TRACERY 3,000—5,000 GBP measurements one 57 by 40.5cm., 22½ by 16 in.; another 48 by 26.5cm., 19 by10½in.; the third 41 by 34cm., 16 by 13½in. Description the second signed l.r.: Henry Holiday.; the third signed anddated l.r.: Henry Holiday. 1918 one coloured chalks, the other two watercolour PROVENANCE Alan B. Gateley and thence by descent EXHIBITED The Nativity: Shropshire, Southgate Gallery, Spring Exhibition,May 1983 CATALOGUE NOTE For photographs of the additional pictures please see the onlinecatalogue at sothebys.com

127 by 77.5 cm., 50 by 30 1/2 in. DESCRIPTION watercolour heightened with bodycolour PROVENANCE Reginald H. Prance, offered in his sale Christie's, 9 May 1894,lot 64, bought 'Vokins';The Revd. Dr G. W. Kitchin, Dean of Winchester and later ofDurham;Private collection EXHIBITED London, Royal Academy, 1877, no. 835 (where entitled'Diana'). LITERATURE AND REFERENCES Art Journal , 1877, p. 271;Henry Holiday, Reminiscences of my Life , London, 1914, p.248, reproduced opposite p. 248;A. L. Baldry, Henry Holiday , 1930, pp. 23, 75 (entitled'Artemis ' and dated '1876'). CATALOGUE NOTE Henry Holiday's picture shows Artemis, the Olympian goddess whowas a virgin and a huntress, and who presided over the transitionfrom girlhood to womanhood. Known as a vengeful and merciless deityin her dealings with men who abused or took advantage of women,even unwittingly, she destroyed Actaeon who glimpsed her whenbathing with her nymphs, and killed Tityus for his attempted rapeof Leto. Artemis is here seen wandering through a forest. At herside is a deerhound, and in her hand a spear.Holiday's artistic training took place at Leigh's School in London,and later at the Royal Academy Schools. In 1857 he competed for theTurner gold medal for landscape painting, the set subject for whichthat year was simply 'An English Landscape'; Holiday submitted aview that he had done at Durlestone Bay, Dorset. He wasunsuccessful, coming to suspect that the Royal Academy judges wereprejudiced against all works done directly from the motif. Allthrough his career, Holiday sketched and painted landscape, onoccasions and as seen here, using such subjects as backgrounds tofigure subjects. Holiday explained how the different elements ofArtemis were put together: the painting was, he wrote in hisReminiscences of my Life , 'strictly a Hampstead picture. Theface was painted from our friend and neighbour, Mrs Gilbert Scott,whose son [Giles Gilbert Scott] (not then born) is now buildingLiverpool Cathedral. The staghound was our own dog, and the woodwas painted in the glade, just outside our garden.'Although best known for his decorative designs for Powells' stainedglass, Holiday was one of the most versatile of Victorian artists,producing book illustrations, enamels, murals, sculpture andwatercolours over a career of almost seventy years. Often choosingclassical subjects for his intricately painted watercolours, thispicture is comparable with such works as The Garden of theMuses , of 1862 (location unknown), and Music of 1876(private collection). The Hellenic goddess Artemis, or her Romanequivalent Diana, was represented by a number of artists in theperiod, including E. J. Poynter, G. F. Watts, Briton Riviere andWalter Crane.The present watercolour was shown at the Royal Academy in 1877, asDiana . With another work by Holiday, it was commended by theArt Journal 's exhibition reviewer: 'The "Three children ofthe Rev. Clement Prance" (666), for example, and the richly tonedacademic picture of "Diana" (835), attired for the chase, andaccompanied by her hounds, as she marches through the greenwood,entitle their author, H. Holiday, to a conspicuous place in thehonours list.'This picture was owned by Reverend Kitchin, who appears to havebeen a friend of the Holiday family. Holiday painted his owndaughter Winifred accompanied by Kitchin's daughter Alexandra in awatercolour entitled The Duet (sold in these rooms, 25 November2004, lot 38). Both The Duet and Artemis had been in the posessionof Mr Reginald Prance a watercolour collector, where they remaineduntil 1894. Reginald Prance was presumably a relative of Rev.Clement Prance whose children were painted by Holiday in the sameyear that he exhibited Artemis.CSN

Henry Holiday (1839-1927) Study of a draped classical figure, full-length pencil and red chalk 12 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (32.7 x 17.5 cm.) Lot Notes Holiday was a painter, illustrator, glassmaker, enamelist and sculptor. He studied at Leigh's Academy and at the Royal Academy Schools. His figurative work is heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, as can be seen in the present drawing. In 1890 he founded his own glassworks at Hampstead, producing stained glass windows. His most famous illustrations were produced for Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.

including caernarvon, llyn peris, llanberis, snowdon and others, one signed, others inscribed, pencil drawings (10); together with a childhood drawing book inscribed 'h g a holiday from his affectionate aunt kate on his birthday june 17th 1845' (2) footnote: by family descent from the artist 'sketch book of north wales'