Gwynneth Holt

Rose Gwynneth Cobden Holt (1909–1995), was a British artist known for her ivory sculptures on religious subjects. Her most famous work is a depiction of the Annunciation, created circa 1946.

Gwynneth Holt
Born
Rose Gwynneth Cobden Holt

1909
Wednesbury, England
Died1995 (aged 85–86)
NationalityBritish
Alma materWolverhampton College of Art
Known forSculpture

Biography
Clay maquette by Gwynneth Holt
Two figures bronze by Gwynneth Holt

Holt was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire in 1909.[1] She was the eldest of three daughters and after attending St Anne's Convent in Birmingham, was accepted into Wolverhampton School of Art aged 16.[2] There she studied under Richard Emerson and met a fellow student, T. B. Huxley-Jones, whom she married in 1934.[3][4] They were both awarded places at the Royal College of Art but Holt did not take her place due to the financial burden on her family.

Huxley-Jones studied under Richard Garbe, an eminent sculptor in ivory and tortoiseshell, materials not commonly used by sculptors at the time. He would influence the direction of both their work. In 1934, Huxley-Jones was appointed Head of Sculpture at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen, where the couple were based for twelve years. It was during this time that Holt created Annunciation.

Holt went on to produce numerous ecclesiastical commissions and exhibited widely, including at the Royal Society of British Sculptors, the Society of Portrait Sculptors, the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.[3] She was also among the first female members of the Royal Society of Sculptors.[5] However, she expressed with frustration, her feelings on the male-dominated nature of the profession.

"Women are just as intelligent as men, and their contribution to art is just as valuable: They are not given a chance to take art up seriously. What with looking after the house, there is not much time left for concentrating on art."[3]

Works held in public collections
Title Year Medium Gallery no. Gallery Location
Bishop Gordon 1966–1974 bronze 1993-0341 Manx National Heritage Isle of Man
Girl Holding a Book – terracotta 1995.1004 Chelmsford Museum Essex, England
Hall Caine mid-20th C ceramic 1993-0342 Manx National Heritage Isle of Man
Head of a Girl – plaster 1995.377 Chelmsford Museum Essex, England
Reverend John Finlay Rutherford 1950s bronze TUF1 Chelmsford Museum Essex, England

Works held in private collections
Title Year Medium Collection Location
Two figures - bronze Collection of C P Ridley RIBA United Kingdom
Two figures - clay maquette Collection of C P Ridley RIBA Hong Kong

References
  1. "Holt, Rose Gwynneth Cobden 1909–1995". www.artbiogs.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. "(Rose) Gwynneth Cobden Holt – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951". sculpture.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. Strang, Alice (2015). Modern Scottish Women. National Galleries of Scotland. ISBN 9781906270896.
  4. "Gwynneth Holt (1909–1995)". eynsham-pc.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  5. "Uncovering the life and work of forgotten women sculptors – Museum Crush". museumcrush.org. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
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