Design and Art Australia Online

illustrator, miniaturist, sculptor and teacher, was born at Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, England, daughter of Walter H. Holman, 'gentleman farmer’. Her birthdate is not listed in artists’ directories of the 1920s and ’30s (which are typically coy about the ages of female entrants), but she became a member of the Society of Miniaturists in 1912 and a member of the Royal Drawing Society in 1918. Prior to this she had studied at St John’s Wood School of Art and had been a student prizewinner at the Royal Drawing Society.

She exhibited miniatures at the Royal Institute and illustrated books for the publishers George Bell and Oxford University Press. She also sculpted a memorial tablet to flood victims in Dalgarrog Church, North Wales. Her address was listed in 1929 as 41 Parkside, Eltham SE9, and she also had a studio in St George’s Road SW1. Her hobbies were given as 'all the activities of Girl Guiding’. This interest in scouting and guiding (she contributed illustrations to both organisations) and her work in the Land Army during World War I complements the British imperial spirit evident in her Digger Prince illustrations. There is no evidence that she ever came to Australia, but she is included in this selection because she clearly intended these pictures of the Prince of Wales 'down under’ to be representative of Australia or, at least, of the sort of Australia she expected.

Writers:

Callaway, Anita Note: Primary

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2011