BIOGRAPHY

Paul Holt was born in Yorkshire, England in 1948 and lives in Ascona, Switzerland.

He first trained as a draftsman in engineering, then spent one year at art school, before training as a teacher of English and religious studies.

At the age of 25, he went with his Swiss wife to continental Europe where he worked and studied in France, Germany and Italy. While working as an English teacher, he devoted himself over many years to the development of his painting. He only saved his best paintings, mostly from 2017 onwards, and only now he decided to “emerge from his studio". 

He also writes poems and an essay on the arts and on contemporary art.

STATEMENT

“Art should be a constant source of aesthetic enjoyment.” (Hans Hofmann)

“Art is the longing for God.” (Alexej von Jawlensky)

Paul uses his drawing skills, feeling for colour, and his sense of composition in his attempt to express transcendence.

Great influences have been Medieval and Byzantine art, early Renaissance, Expressionism, Fauvism, and Zen painting.

His greatest modern influence has been Wassily Kandinsky. The idea for a painting emerges in the head but is painted from the soul. It should not just be a decorative picture but speak to the human soul.

Paul paints in oils, watercolours and gouache, sometimes also in Indian ink on Japanese paper. He uses only materials of high quality: Rembrandt oil paint on fine cotton canvas or Canson oil painting paper; for his watercolours and gouache Talens gouache and Windsor & Newton watercolours on Hahnemühle, Canson or Fabriano fine grain watercolour paper.

He paints what is in his imagination and what he loves most; exploring different ways to express beauty.