Edgar Holloway

Edgar Holloway was a key figure in the etching revival of the 1930’s, who was commissioned to do portraits of some of the most flamboyant figures of the era, including Stephen Spender, Herbert Read and TS Eliot. The revival has enjoyed a lot of public recognition in recent years: Holloway, who is still active at the age of 92, had a significant retrospective exhibition in Oxford’s Ashmolean Gallery in 1991. He is best known for the remarkable series of etched self- portraits he has done throughout his life. The first he did when he was 16, the latest, The Fedora, when he was 88.

Holloway was born in Doncaster and moved to the Brecon Beacons in Wales in the 40’s. There he met Daisy Monica, Edward Gill’s favourite model, who he fell in love with and married in 1943. She was from Ditchling and the couple moved there in 1950. He was invited by Philip Hagreen to join the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic, and he has lived and worked in Ditchling ever since. For a time he gave up etching in order to concentrate on drawing maps and designing book covers. He resumed in 1968. As well as etchings and engravings he has produced hundreds of drawings and watercolours. One of his most recent compositions was a portrait of the actress Greta Scacchi. The exhibition ‘A Life in Art’ shows eight decades of his work on paper. The artist will be in the café from midday today for a special viewing of his work. AG