Lilian Holt

Lilian Holt
Portrait of Lilian Holt by David Bomberg, 1929
David Bomberg (1929) Lilian Painting David (Painting Lilian), Tate Gallery.
Born(1898-07-26)26 July 1898
Putney, Wandsworth, London, England
Died13 May 1983(1983-05-13) (aged 84)
London, England
EducationPutney Art School
Regent Street Polytechnic
OccupationPainter
Notable workTajo, Ronda (1956)
MovementBorough Group
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1923; div. 1928)​

David Bomberg
​
​
(m. 1941; died 1957)​
PartnerDavid Bomberg (1928–1941)
Children2
RelativesLeslie Marr (ex-son-in-law)

Lilian Thirza Charlotte Holt (married name Bomberg; formerly Mendelson; 26 July 1898 – 13 May 1983) was a British painter and founding member of the Borough Group. Holt's dedication to her partner and family limited her career and opportunities as an artist.

Early life and education

Holt was born on 26 July 1898 in Putney, Wandsworth to Oliver Oswald Holt, a civil servant, and Kate Holt (died 1905). The youngest of four siblings, Holt's brother Jack died whilst serving in the First World War.

During 1913 to 1914, Holt attended Putney Art School for a team, before studying at Clark's College with a view of entering the civil service. Holt later worked at the Post Office before serving in the Women's Land Army. Following the end of the First World War, Holt worked for Prudential. In 1922, Holt studied at Regent Street Polytechnic.

Career

In 1924, Holt married Jacob Mendelson and subsequently gave birth to their daughter, the painter Dinora Mendelson. Mendelson reportedly forbade Holt to paint however, she was able to handle and study the work of Walter Sickert, Jacob Epstein, Jacob Kramer and David Bomberg during this period. In 1928, Holt began her relationship with Bomberg.

Holt did not resume painting until 1945, focusing instead on supporting Bomberg's career. While Bomberg was teaching at the Borough Polytechnic Institute, Holt was a founding member of the Borough Group, a collective of painters influenced by Bomberg, and participated in group exhibitions. Holt and Bomberg moved to Ronda in Spain from 1954 to 1957, before returning to England due to Bomberg's failing health. After his death, Holt focused on her own work, travelling to, often remote areas of, Mexico, Basutoland, Andalusia, Yugoslavia, Morocco, Turkey, and Iceland to paint, as well as continuing to promote Bomberg's legacy.

Exhibitions and collections

Tajo, Ronda (1956), oil paint on canvas, Tate Gallery.

Exhibitions of Holt's work include Paintings and Drawings by David Bomberg (1890-1957) and Lilian Holt (1971) at the Reading Museum and Art Gallery and her first solo exhibition, Lilian Holt: Paintings and Drawings (1980) at the Ben Uri Gallery, when she was in her seventies. Posthumous exhibitions include the 1992 group exhibition Ten Decades: Careers of Ten Women Artists Born 1897-1906 at the Norwich Gallery and the 1985 solo exhibition A Tribute to Lilian Bomberg at Fischer Fine Art in London. In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970 at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.

Holt's painting Tajo, Ronda (1956) is in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery. She is also the subject of several paintings by Bomberg, including Lilian (1932) and Lilian Painting David (Painting Lilian) (1929).

Personal life

In 1924, Holt married Jacob Mendelson (1891–1972), an art and antique dealer of Russian descent. The couple later separated before later divorcing in 1928. Mendelson and Holt had one daughter, the painter Dinora Mendelson (1924–2009) through whom she was the mother-in-law of Leslie Marr during 1948 to 1956, and later the actor Bernard Davies-Rees.

In 1941, Holt married the painter David Bomberg with whom she had one daughter, Diana (1935–1974).

On 13 May 1983, Holt died in London aged 84.

Notes

  1. ↑ Also cited as 1923.
  2. ↑ Mendelson is cited as being born in the Russian Empire. and London.

References

  1. 1 2 Cork, Richard (5 January 2012). "Bomberg, David Garshen (1890–1957), painter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37206. Retrieved 4 June 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ Weiner, Julia (1996). "Jewish Women Artists In Britain 1700–1940". In Bohm–Duchen, Monica; Grodzinski, Vera (eds.). Rubies and Rebels: Jewish Female Identity in Contemporary British Art. London: Lund Humphries. p. 39. ISBN 9780853317036. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Foster, Alicia (2004). Tate women artists. London: Tate. p. 118. ISBN 9781854373113.
  4. 1 2 3 Deepwell, Katy (1992). Ten Decades: Careers of Ten Women Artists Born, 1897–1906. Norwich Gallery, Norfolk Institute of Art and Design. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Arrowsmith, Sue (1 March 1981). "A Conversation with Lilian Holt: Sue Arrowsmith talks to a remarkably young 82-year-old artist". Art Monthly (44). London, UK: 3–7. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "Kate Holt". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901; London; Horselydown; ALL; District 7. Kew, London: The National Archives. 1901.
  7. ↑ "Lilian Thurza Charlotte Holt". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911; London; Wandsworth; Putney; 05. Kew, London: The National Archives. 1911.
  8. ↑ "Lilian T C Holt". 1939 England and Wales Register; London; Hampstead Met B; Akcb. Kew, London: The National Archives. 1939.
  9. ↑ "Kate Holt [Death Index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 1d (Q3). London, UK: General Register Office: 93. 1905.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dinora Davies-Rees interviewed by Hester Westley". Sound and Moving Image Catalogue. Interviewed by Westley, Hester. London, UK: British Library. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "September 30, 1914: Without Competition". The London Gazette. London. 2 October 1914. p. 7839. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 W.M Schwab, ed. (1987). Jewish Artists The Ben Uri Collection. Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd / Ben Uri Art Society. ISBN 0-85331-537-X.
  13. ↑ "Lilian Thirza Charlotte Holt". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1921; Sussex; Horsham. Kew, London: The National Archives. 1921.
  14. 1 2 3 "Lilian Holt". Ben Uri. Ben Uri Gallery & Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Lazer J Mendelsohn and Lilian T C Holt [Marriage Index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 1b (Q1): 613. 1924.
  16. 1 2 "Dionora Mendelson". Ben Uri. Ben Uri Gallery & Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  17. ↑ Marr, Leslie. "Leslie Marr on the formation of the Borough Group". Borough Road Collection Archive.
  18. ↑ Bomberg, Lilian. "Lillian [sic] Bomberg on the Founding of the Borough Group". Borough Road Collection Archive.
  19. 1 2 Tate. "'Tajo, Ronda', Lilian Holt, 1956 | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  20. 1 2 3 Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press. 2011.
  21. ↑ Tate. "'Lilian', David Bomberg, 1932 | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Tate. "'Lilian Painting David (Painting Lilian)', David Bomberg, 1929 | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  23. ↑ "Jacob Mendleson". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901; London; Whitechapel; Mile End New Town; District 6. Kew, London: The National Archives. 1901.
  24. ↑ "Jacob Mendelsohn [Death Index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 5e (Q2). General Register Office: 203. 1972.
  25. ↑ "[David] Bomberg and Lilian T C Holt [Marriage Index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 1a (Q2): 1439. 1924.
  26. ↑ "Correspondence, writings, papers, photographs, printed material, and press cuttings of the English painter David Garshen Bomberg (1890-1957) and his second wife Lilian Bomberg, née Holt (1898-1983)". Yerusha Search Portal. European Jewish Archives Portal. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  27. ↑ "BOMBERG, Lilian Thyrza Charlotte". Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London: Principal Probate Registry: 935. 1984.