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 The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

'', created circa 1946.

Biography

Holt was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire in 1909. She was the eldest of three daughters and after attending St Anne's Convent in Birmingham, was accepted into

Wolverhampton School of Art The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

aged 16. There she studied under Richard Emerson and met a fellow student,

T. B. Huxley-Jones Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones (14 March 1908 – 10 December 1968) was a British sculptor known for creating several public works for British towns and cities. Biography Huxley-Jones was born at Staffordshire and studied at the Wolverhampton Sc ...

, whom she married in 1934. 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 Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...

, the Society of Portrait Sculptors, the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

, the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. She was also among the first female members of the Royal Society of Sculptors. 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."''

Works held in public collections

Works held in private collections

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Gwynneth 1909 births 1995 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton English women sculptors People from Wednesbury 20th-century women sculptors