About the Book
Francis 'Frank' Montague Holl (1845-1888) was one of the great painters of the Victorian era, notable for his tragic social realism as well as his penetrating portraits. Although highly respected in his lifetime, his early death meant that he never fully received the acclaim that his work merited. His great subject pictures, often on bleak themes, were frequently criticized for their darkness but found great favor with the public. His portraits can be seen on a par with those of Watts and Millais, and he was an influence on Van Gogh who greatly admired his work. This book represents the first retrospective of this significant artist. Exploring in parallel the subject paintings and the portraits, it considers the importance of Holl's output and his continued relevance today.
About the Author: Mark Bills is Curator of Watts Gallery, formerly Senior Curator of Paintings, Print and Drawings, Museum of London and Visual Arts Officer at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, UK. He has written widely including
G.F. Watts Victorian Visionary: Highlights from the Watts Gallery Collection (2008),
The Art of Satire: London in Caricature (PWP, 2006), and
William Powell Frith, (co-editor and author, 2006), as well as
Art in the Age of Queen Victoria: A Wealth of Depictions (editor and author) and
A Victorian Salon (editor and author). He has written numerous articles on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art for books and publications including
London: The Illustrated History,
Burlington Magazine,
Apollo and
Print Quarterly.
Peter Funnell is Curator of Nineteenth-Century Portraits and Head of Research Programmes at the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK. Since joining the NPG in 1990 he has curated many exhibitions and led major projects ranging from the redevelopment of the Gallery's first-floor displays to directing the research of 10,000 portrait illustrations for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography of which he is a Consultant Editor.
Jane Sellars is Curator of Art at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate, UK has written widely about women and art. Formerly Education Officer at National Museums Liverpool and Director of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, author of several books on the Brontës, including
The Art of the Brontës, (with Christine Alexander, 1995), and
Writers' Lives: Charlotte Brontë (1997). For
William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age (2007) she looked at the role of women in Frith's personal and professional lives. Jane Sellars was the main contributor and editor for
Atkinson Grimshaw: Painter of Moonlight (2011), published by Harrogate Borough Council to accompany the award winning exhibition of the same name.
Barbara Bryant is an Art historian, writer, and consultant specializing in the work of G.F. Watts. She wrote the exhibition catalogue
G.F. Watts Portraits: Fame and Beauty in Victorian Society (2004) and
G.F. Watts Victorian Visionary: Highlights from the Watts Gallery Collection (co-editor and author, 2008). She was a major contributor to the exhibition The Age of Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Watts: Symbolism in Britain 1860-1910 at Tate Britain in 1997, she is the author of the forthcoming Oxford Dictionary of National Biography's entry on Watts, as well as other articles and essays on the artist and on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art.
Philip McEvansoneya is Lecturer in the History of Painting at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. His research interests are in aspects of the history of art in Ireland and Britain with particular reference to the history of collections and the history of institutions. His PhD concerned the work of Frank Holl and Luke Fildes. He has published widely including articles in
Burlington Magazine and
Journal of the History of Collections.
Mary McMahon is Curatorial Fellow at Watts Gallery. She has an MA in Design History from the Royal College of Art, and a BA in Art History from University College London, UK and has spent two and a half years studying at the V&A, one and a half working at the National Art Library and two six-month internships at the National Portrait Gallery (Curatorial) and the V&A (Research).
