catalog text
EDWARD HENRY HOLDER
British, 1847-1922
"Valley of the Rocks, Lynton, England"
Oil on canvas | Signed lower left "E.H. HOLDER"
Item # 105LZA14K
A very pleasing view of the distinctive coastline on the Valley of the Rocks trail just outside of Lynton, England, it captures a meandering path with two hikers resting along it before a towering outcrop of rock. The valley is most unusual as it features a river valley without any signs of a river and that the "river" runs parallel to the coast rather than perpendicular to it. It is home to dramatic rocky outcrops and a beach far below the cliffs littered with fallen boulders. Visitors to the valley are fortunate to see a view incredibly similar to what Holder captured more than a century ago and many photographs capture this very angle that caught Holder's eye.
An impending storm looms in the distance while stark golden light pierces the clouds from beyond our view to light the rock and the pathway for these travelers. Seagulls fly over the teal waters below as they gently crash along the shoreline.
Executed in oil on canvas, the painting remains in nearly pristine condition with only the most minimal of conservation over time, unlined and housed in an early frame. The work is signed in his typical script lower left "E.H. Holder".
Holder's 20" x 30" view of nearby Lynmouth, Devin achieved 3220 GBP in Christie's sale on November 5th of 1995 (at the time converting at 1.55 GBP/USD for a purchase price of approximately $ 4990 USD). His larger but similar composition of A Thunderstorm Passing Over Lands End achieved 4935 GBP in Christie's sale on November 6th of 2002 (converting at 1.59 GBP/USD for a purchase price of approximately $ 7850 USD) and his 20" x 30" composition of Streatly on Thames achieved 6,900 GBP at Christie's sale on June 2nd of 1999 (converting at 1.59 GBP/USD for a purchase price of approximately $ 10,970 USD).
EDWARD HENRY HOLDER
Edward Henry was born to Henry Wharrey Holder and Henrietta Holder in Scarsborough on October 14th of 1847. Little is known about his early life and training, but he began actively exhibiting at Suffolk Street starting in 1864 and would exhibit 33 paintings there through 1893. He exhibited extensively, including at the Royal Academy in 1872 and 1873 as well as the British Institute among others. Much of his work centers around Yorkshire with many coastal views of Scarsborough where he and his wife Annie Fowler Seals lived through at least 1881; later they would move to London where they registered as having 10 children, but he traveled extensively throughout Europe. His trips abroad went as far as South Africa where he would capture his "View of Victoria Falls on the Zambezi", presented at the Royal Academy in 1917 and at the same time captured many other views both of Victoria Falls and Table Mountain among others. His paintings are held in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Astley Cheetham Art Gallery, the Sunderland Museum of Art, York Museums Trust, The Whitaker Museum and the Russel-Cotes Museum.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- The Dictionary of Victorian Painters, Christopher Wood, 1978, p. 229
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists Vol. VII, Gründ, 2006, p. 218-219
- A Dictionary of Artists Who Have Exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions from 1760-1893, Graves, 1973
Measurements: 20 1/8" H x 30 1/8" W [canvas]; 25" H x 35 3/8" W [frame]
Condition Report:
Canvas unlined, original stretcher (one key replaced), light surface craquelure throughout; under UV examination reveals very minimal inpainting: three spots of inpaint in sky to left of rocky feature, a few spots of touch up along upper edge of sky along frame, a speck in the sky upper-middle, a speck to far right upper corner. Surface professionally conserved: varnish removed, fresh damar varnish applied. Frame of roughly the same age as the painting with flaws, overpainting and chipping as expected. A very fine presentation, ready-to-place.