This piece, titled Bathing, is by Geoffrey Holder and dates to 1987, reflecting a Modern style. It is executed in Pastel on paper, showcasing the use of materials and technique. The dimensions and framing details are not specified, leaving its scale open to interpretation. The work is signed by the artist. Works in the modern tradition often emphasize technique and thematic expression, inviting viewers to engage with the subject and context. This summary is generated from catalog records and reviewed for accuracy in attribution, date, and materials. Its style and material qualities reflect the cultural context of the period, demonstrating craftsmanship and thematic depth.
Geoffrey Lamont Holder (1930 – 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, artist, art collector, author and music composer. Holder was a prolific painter. Peter Colasante, Director of L’Enfant Gallery, was privileged to consider Geoffrey Holder a friend, and we have works by Holder and many sculptures from his collection. Patrons of his art included Lena Horne and William F. Buckley, Jr. As a painter, he won a Guggenheim Fellowship in fine arts in 1956. A book of his photography, ADAM, was published by Viking Press in 1986. He was also a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957. In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the Bond film Live and Let Die. At the age of 15, the Trinidad Public Library exhibited and sold three of Holder’s paintings. The local newspaper, The Trinidad Guardian “called me a ‘Boy Wonder’ and ‘an example for the aspiring young artists of Trinidad.’” Holder notes that “other than Boscoe who painted black people, I was not aware of other painters who painted the golden-hue until I encountered Diego Rivera...”. The following is an excerpt from the catalog for the exhibition, Touched By The Muses, The Artistic World of Geoffrey Holder, curated by Reid Buckley, Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington DC, 1998. In this personal insight into “The Artist’s Beginnings, In His Own Words”, Holder describes his influential oil painting brother, Boscoe’s Windsor-Newton. Boscoe had his own dance company and his own radio program.... He not only excelled as a painter and dancer, but as a pianist as well. “With all that music, dance, and art, our home on Richmond Street was the eye of an artistic storm. And like Pygmalion, Boscoe shaped a lot of artists’ lives, including mine. He collected art books and left them around , which exposed me to so many different worlds; books that influenced me gave me the freedom to fantasize about unfamiliar cultures.”