Holly Banks

 

Holly Hope Banks was born in Columbus, Ohio.  At the University of Toledo, she received her Bachelor’s of Art degree in 1981.   She was a registered copyist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. for 5 years.  She worked briefly under Daniel Greene in New York. Holly continued her classical training at the Atelier of Plein-air Studies for 4 years and then furthered her studies by extensive travels to Europe.

Her work has been featured in numerous national open juried exhibitions including appearances in the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club at the National Arts Club in New York and with the Audubon Artists at the Salmagundi Club in New York.   She has won major awards with both art organizations and is a full member of both.  Her work has also been included in exhibitions in 2017, 2016, 2011, 2010, 2001 and 2000 at the Butler Institute of American Art.  In 2011, the Butler museum purchased her pastel, "Artist's Mother' for their permanent collection.

 

In 1996, Holly was one of six American artists for cultural exchange with the Union of Russian Artists.  They were the first group of American artists to be officially invited to Russia.  Here work was featured in an in a joint American/Russian show in Kolomna and Moscow, Russia.   In 1998, she was named as one of ten prominent emerging artists in an article of American Artist magazine, and wrote an article, ‘An Artistic Imagination’, which was published in the same magazine in the October 2001 issue.  Her portrait of ‘Ms. Ramona Tumblin’ was included in the ‘Best of Portrait painting’, North Light Books, 1998.   She was also featured in the February 2015 issue of Plein Air Magazine for her award winning piece, titled ‘Michael”. She is listed in numerous reference books including Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the World.

Holly specializes in realist academic art of all genres. Her work is in private collections across the country and abroad.  Her board room portraits are in various institutions. She lives with her artist husband and works out of her studio in Florida.

 

 

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.