painter, was born at Hamilton, Tasmania, on 9 March 1893, third of the five children of Lilla Edith, née Thorne, a schoolteacher from a pioneering family in the Carlton district, and William Nassau Holmes, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, who became a schoolteacher, then headmaster, in Tasmania. During her childhood the family lived at Devonport and Scottsdale, until finally settling near Hobart at Dilkhoosha, 62 Charles Street, Moonah. This remained Edith’s home until her death.

Her artistic talents were encouraged by her painter mother, who had 'a good sense of colour’ particularly in the decoration of the family home, as Edith recollected:

One room, very vivid in my mind, daffodil wallpaper with a lovely white design, rich texture, and in the room ruby velvet chairs on a light brown carpet, and ivory black shelves in the walls with pink French china with romantic figures as a pattern, and an easel in one corner of the room with a study of flowers.

Edith studied art at the Hobart Technical College under Lucien Dechaineux in 1918-19 and 1922-24 and under Mildred Lovett in 1925-26, 1928-31 and 1935:

Lucien Dechaineux was the Art Master when painting in tone was most important, which was of great help to me later … Mildred Lovett … was most interested in my work and encouraged me in every way … [She] had a modern outlook and at first was not well received in Hobart, but later she was appreciated.

She also studied at Julian Ashton 's Sydney Art School under Henry Gibbons and Ashton himself (1930-31) and there met Thea Proctor and George Lambert.

During the 1930s Holmes shared a studio in Collins Street, Hobart, with Mildred Lovett, Florence Rodway , Violet Vimpany , Dorothy Stoner and Ethel M. Nicholls. She travelled regularly to Melbourne where she held her first seven solo and joint exhibitions (1938-51) and met Eveline Syme , Danila Vassilieff, Arnold Shore and George Bell. Her work created a great deal of interest in Melbourne in the 1930s and 1940s, although this seems to have declined in the 1950s. Other than that, she remained little known outside her own state.

Holmes exhibited annually with the Art Society of Tasmania (1927-72) and was a council member for many years (1930-52). She was a founding member of the off-shoot Tasmanian Group of Painters in 1940 and exhibited regularly with it until 1969. In 1954 she was awarded a special prize in the Tasmanian Sesquicentenary Art Competition and in 1972 a prize by the Contemporary Art Society (Tas). She went overseas for the first time in 1958 with her aunt, Mrs Ada Newberry, visiting England and France and holding an exhibition in Tasmania House, London. Other trips followed in 1960 and 1971.

Holmes actively participated in the Victoria League, the English Speaking Union and the Women’s Non-Party League; she was a life member of the United Nations Association. She died in Hobart on 26 August 1973. TMAG (Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tas) has a good pencil portrait of the elderly Edith Holmes by Patricia Giles.

Writers:

Backhouse, Sue Note: Primary

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2011