"Less is more" is a concept that permeates Donald Holden's watercolors.

Color range, format, and subject matter are deliberately understated. His atmospheric watercolors are completed in the mind of the viewer. All of this contributes to what the artist calls a "distillation of vision". Holden prefers to work on a small, intimate scale. He believes that this format brings the viewer into a direct and intense relationship with the painting. "It's more than meets the eye," says Holden. Holden's spiritual mentors are the 15th century Japanese master, Sesshe, J.M.W. Turner, and James McNeill Whistler.

Born: Los Angeles, CA 1931

1947- Art Students League of New York
1951- BA Columbia University
1952- MA Ohio State University
1986- Honorary Doctorate Maine College of Art
1994 -elected to National Academy

Honors and Awards:

Florsheim Art Fund grant, 1999
Adolph & Clara Obrig Prize, National Academy of Design 176th Annual
Exhibition, 2001

Selected Public Collections in US & Great Britain

Art Students League of New York
British Museum, London
Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
National Academy, NY
National Gallery, Washington, DC
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA
Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Victoria and Albert Museum, London