Student life in the 20s and 30s
This piece was written by Holland as one of a series of sections in a planned autobiography that never quite happened. Here he reminisces about his life as a student in London.STUDENT LIFEIn...
View Articlele Mas Gouge
It was in 1969 that Holland first visited le Mas Gouge in the Gard department of France. His friends, the architect Joe Chamberlain and Christoph Bonn and Joe's wife Jean had bought a semi-ruined...
View ArticleThinking about traffic jams
An imminent visit to London brings on all sorts of worries about transport and traffic jams, while the world wonders how London will cope with all the extra visitors for the Jubilee and the Olympic...
View ArticleA nice find on eBay!
While cruising on eBay recently, my husband spotted a James Holland lithograph for sale. He entered the fray and we were very pleased when he got the winning bid in and we were able to take...
View ArticleDad's Army
During the Second World War, Holland worked for the Ministry of Information but his family lived outside London in rural Hampshire. Holland joined the local Home Guard, and being an educated type, was...
View ArticleHallowe'en
Each year I mean to load up this picture on Hallowe'en and each year I fail. Sorry this is a day late, but I would like to share this charming whimsey from one of Holland's sketch books as my take on...
View ArticleTeaching in the Blitz
Soon after the heaving bombing of London, the Blitz, commenced I was offered the post of art master at a south east London grammar school. The very successful headmaster had been killed in a raid, and...
View ArticleMentioned in passing
I had to admit that the title for this post is probably in rather bad taste, however it is an apt description. I was made aware today of the passing of Dorrit Dekk - a female graphic designer at a...
View ArticleThe Royal College of Art in the Twenties
The following text is drawn from the as yet unpublished memoires started by James Holland during his life. It is part of a much longer chapter discussing the life changing experience of being a...
View ArticleBirmingham before it was regenerated
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Holland was Head of Faculty, Visual Communication at Birmingham College of Art (then Polytechnic from 1971). Of course all things change, and Birmingham Poly morphed...
View ArticleInspiration from the Avignon Festival
The summer of 1977 Holland spent time at Mas Gouge with his family - I remember it not least as the news that Elvis had died had to be gleaned from the Midi Libre. Rather than drive all the way...
View ArticleThe Penny Wet
This painting comes from Holland’s post-War period in the late forties and fifties, when he was still attracted by social realism, but had the opportunity to use larger canvases and more colour. The...
View ArticleBritain's seafaring heritage
In an earlier article, I mentioned the 1936 Three James's Desk Diary. Social realism was very much the thing in the Thirties for Holland, and his cartoon which goes with the diary page for the first...
View ArticleDad's Army
During the Second World War, Holland worked for the Ministry of Information but his family lived outside London in rural Hampshire. Holland joined the local Home Guard, and being an educated type, was...
View ArticleHallowe'en
Each year I mean to load up this picture on Hallowe'en and each year I fail. Sorry this is a day late, but I would like to share this charming whimsey from one of Holland's sketch books as my take on...
View ArticleTeaching in the Blitz
Soon after the heaving bombing of London, the Blitz, commenced I was offered the post of art master at a south east London grammar school. The very successful headmaster had been killed in a raid, and...
View ArticleMentioned in passing
I had to admit that the title for this post is probably in rather bad taste, however it is an apt description. I was made aware today of the passing of Dorrit Dekk - a female graphic designer at a...
View ArticleThe Royal College of Art in the Twenties
The following text is drawn from the as yet unpublished memoires started by James Holland during his life. It is part of a much longer chapter discussing the life changing experience of being a...
View ArticleBirmingham before it was regenerated
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Holland was Head of Faculty, Visual Communication at Birmingham College of Art (then Polytechnic from 1971). Of course all things change, and Birmingham Poly morphed...
View ArticleInspiration from the Avignon Festival
The summer of 1977 Holland spent time at Mas Gouge with his family - I remember it not least as the news that Elvis had died had to be gleaned from the Midi Libre. Rather than drive all the way...
View Article
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