in ceramic mosaic murals, ceramic brick carvings, stained glass windows, bronze, fabric collages and hand- hooked wool tapestries. Now in his later years, Holleman has turned to colored pencil drawings.
His work is owned by museums, colleges, hospitals, and private collectors
Holleman’s works are owned, among others, by the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the Jewish Museum in New York. His mural of the Aztec Calendar Stone, under the Foucault Pendulum, is on permanent display at Boston’s Science Museum.
Born in Arlington, Ma in 1927, David cannot remember a time when he did not want to be an artist. He was given his first set of paints when he was six and painted a mural on his family’s coal bin. At an early age he studied art at the Ruggles Street Art Center and portraiture as an adolescent at the Scott Carbee School. Serving with the U.S. Army’s first occupational troops in Berlin, he was so deeply influenced by the German Expressionist painter Carl Hofer that he turned to ceramics at the Boston Museum School and Alfred University. Although his pots won national prizes, the medium limited his need for expression. He then began his signature style of mosaic cityscapes. Sgaffitoed tiles, placed among abstract cities, made visual themes of human struggles from literature or the Bible.
Ceramic mosaic murals led to over 50 commissions for churches, synagogues, hospitals, colleges and private collections in the United States, England and Africa. David also worked in ceramic brick carvings, stained glass windows, bronze, fabric collages and hand-hooked wool tapestries. He taught at Harvard University, Stonehill College and adult education centers.
David’s largest commission was for the U.S. Army Cemetery for the North African Campaign of World War II in Carthage, Tunisia. Forty-two of his stained glass windows and two large ceramic murals are at the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, CT. More recently 19 stained glass windows were given to the Skirball Museum of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Boston Science Museum has his ceramic mural of the Aztec Calendar Stone on permanent display under the Foucault Pendulum. He has exhibited throughout the United States, and individual pieces are owned by museums and private collectors.
For the past 15 years David returned to portrait drawing, an early passion of his, where he could explore his desire to portray the essence of human genius, aspirations or simply being. These colored pencil drawings come from his own vision, knowledge and wit. The portrait brings people to life and their uniqueness is enhanced by the backgrounds in which he places them. Now, at 93, he draws at his studio in his home in Lexington, MA. He smiles, “Something lighter to lift!”
Unfortunately, on September 12th, 2020, David passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. We will be keeping the site live to show off his art, which was his passion and will always be his legacy.”
Born in Arlington, Ma in 1927, David cannot remember a time when he did not want to be an artist. He was given his first set of paints when he was six and painted a mural on his family’s coal bin. At an early age he studied art at the Ruggles Street Art Center and portraiture as an adolescent at the Scott Carbee School.
