Henry Holiday (British artist) 1839 - 1927
Henry Holiday was an English historical genre and landscape painter, stained glass designer, illustrator and sculptor. He is considered to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art. He attended Leigh's art academy (where a fellow student was Frederick Walker) and in 1855, at the age of 15, was admitted to the Royal Academy. Through his friendship with Albert Moore and Simeon Solomon he was introduced to the artists Rosetti, Burne Jones and William Morris of the "Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood". This movement was to be pivotal in his future artistic and political life. Holiday worked in both oils and watercolours. In 1858, his first picture, a landscape painting, was exhibited at the Royal Academy and immediately sold - from that year his work was frequently shown at the Academy and elsewhere. Holiday spent a lot of time at the studios of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, where groups of artists would meet to discuss, exchange and pool ideas. The influence of Burne-Jones can be seen in Holiday's work. In 1861, Holiday accepted the job of stained glass window designer for Powell's Glass Works - after Burne-Jones had left to work for Morris & Co. During his time there he fulfilled over 300 commissions, mostly for customers in the USA. He left in 1891 to set up his own glass works in Hampstead, producing stained glass, mosaics, enamels and sacerdotal objects. In January 1874, Holiday was commissioned by Lewis Carroll to illustrate The Hunting of the Snark. He remained friends with the author throughout his life. Holiday had been a socialist throughout his life and, together with his wife Kate and daughter Winifred, supported the Suffragette movement. The family were close acquaintances of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter, and had organised local suffragette meetings in the Lake District.
