Henry (George Alexander) Holiday

(b London, 17 June 1839; d London, 15 April 1927). English stained-glass artist, painter and illustrator. He studied painting in London at Leigh's Art School and the Royal Academy Schools, where he was influenced by Pre-Raphaelitism. Contact with Dante Gabriel Rossetti's circle and the architect William Burges introduced him to the applied arts, and from 1863 he worked primarily as a stained-glass artist, particularly in collaboration with the glass manufacturers James Powell & Sons and Heaton, Butler & Bayne. After visiting Italy in 1867 he abandoned his early Pre-Raphaelite style for one inspired by Classical and Renaissance art, aiming to create a 'modern' style of stained glass no longer dependent on medievalism. His memorial window (1868) to the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Westminster Abbey and the complete glazing scheme (1869-75) of St Mary Magdalene, Paddington, London, illustrate the expressive figure drawing and feeling for monumental scale characteristic of all his mature work. In 1891, dissatisfied with the working methods of the commercial stained-glass firms, he established his own workshop in Hampstead, London, and experimented successfully with making pot-metal glass. Many of Holiday's later commissions were for American churches; his windows (1898-1925) in Holy Trinity, Manhattan, New York, reveal the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement in their emphatic leading and use of richly textured glass. As a painter Holiday is best known for his Dante and Beatrice (1883; Liverpool, Walker A.G.); his most important illustrations are those for Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876). He also produced graphics in support of such social and political causes as Dress Reform and Irish Home Rule. In 1892 he became editor of Aglaia, the journal of the Healthy and Artistic Dress Union, contributing articles and illustrations.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Henry Holiday was an English Pre-Raphaelite artist, born on June 17, 1839 in London.

Biography

Holiday's depiction of the meeting between Dante Alighieri and Beatrice Portinari (in white) who strolls along the Arno River with friend Lady Vanna

In 1855, at the age of 16, Holiday made a journey to the Lake District. This was to be the first of many trips to the area, where he would often holiday for long periods of time. Whilst in the Lake District, he spent much of his time sketching the views which were to be seen from the various hills and mountains. He wrote, "For concentrated loveliness, I know nothing that can quite compare with the lakes and mountains of Westmorland, Cumberland and Lancashire."

Holiday also spent a lot of time at the studios of Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The influence of Burne-Jones can be felt in Holiday's work – the artists working in Sir Edward's studios discussed, exchanged and pooled their ideas, thus causing similarities between them.

He accepted the job of stained glass window designer for Powell's Glass Works in 1861, after Burne-Jones left to work for Morris & Co. During his time at Powell's, he fulfilled over 300 commissions, mostly for Americans. He later left Powell's in 1891, to set up his own glass works.

In his painting work, he excelled in drapery, producing works with an air of Rossetti to them. He illustrated Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark".

Holiday died on April 15, 1927, two years after his wife, Kate.

See also

• Stained glass
• Stained glass - British glass, 1811-1918
• Victorian Era
• Edwardian Era
• Aestheticism

External links

• A gallery of Holiday's stained glass works
• Holiday's Stained Glass Windows in Cumbria

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)