Erik Holland Nevada High Desert Plein Air Oil on Canvas, Signed, 2013
Viridian Eclection
The Painting A Nevada high desert landscape in oil, worked thickly and quickly in the plein air manner, set behind a wide cream linen liner in a substantial stepped frame finished in mottled silver...
The Painting
A Nevada high desert landscape in oil, worked thickly and quickly in the plein air manner, set behind a wide cream linen liner in a substantial stepped frame finished in mottled silver and bronze.
The composition runs on a diagonal. A pale blue green sky fills the upper left, carrying long streaks of cream and one clear band of coral. A lavender ridge sweeps down from the left, painted in short circling strokes that give the slope its roll and its haze. Against it, upper right, a dark rimrock crag stands in heavy brown and near black vertical strokes, catching a thin line of orange along its lit edge.
The right two thirds of the picture is a long olive and ochre slope rising to meet that crag, and the front of it is on fire with yellow. Rabbitbrush in full bloom, laid on in thick broken dabs and flecked with teal, rust, rose and small black notes, which is exactly what that country does in late summer and early fall.
The paint is heavy and the brushwork is visible everywhere. Colors are worked wet into wet, ridges of pigment stand well proud of the canvas, and nothing has been smoothed out afterward. It was painted fast and left alone.
Signed and dated in pale blue at the lower left, the date reading 13. The reverse of the backing is inscribed in ink, Artist Erik Holland.
History & Provenance
Erik Holland is a Reno painter, and the painting is local in a way very little regional art actually is.
He works plein air, outdoors and on location, and in the studio, and his subject is the landscape of Nevada and the Great Basin. He studied at the Art Students League of New York, the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He painted murals in Stinson Beach, California in 1984 and in Fairbanks, Alaska in the nineteen nineties, and he was for a long time a contributor to the Reno News and Review.
His exhibition record is real and regional. He showed at the Nevada Historical Society, with a third show there in January 2015. He had a one man show at the Court House Gallery in Eureka, Nevada in October 2014, and showed recent plein air work at the Rinckel Mansion in Carson City in July 2017 under the title In and Around the Great Basin. He has painted a series of twenty five building portraits each in Austin and in Ely, and has worked extensively in Eureka. He taught workshops at St. Mary's Art Center in Virginia City for eight years and has taught at Rainshadow Community Charter High School in Reno. A Nevada Arts Council grant supported the publication of his first book. He has been carried by galleries in Reno, Carson City, Elko and California.
The frame gives a second date. The backing carries the shop label of Aaron Brothers, filled in by hand with the framer's name and the inspector's initials, which means the picture was framed to order rather than dropped into something ready made. Aaron Brothers closed ninety four of its ninety seven stores in March 2018, so the framing happened before then. With the canvas dated 13, the picture was painted in 2013 and framed within the following few years.
The location in the painting is not identified. Holland has worked across central and eastern Nevada, and the country shown here is consistent with that, but nothing on the canvas or the backing names a place.
Product Details
| Artist | Erik Holland, Reno, Nevada. Plein air and studio landscape painter. Trained at the Art Students League of New York, the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the Academy of Art College, San Francisco |
| Year | 2013. Taken from the date on the canvas, which reads 13, not from style |
| Subject | Nevada high desert. A lavender ridge, a dark rimrock crag and a long slope of blooming rabbitbrush under a streaked sky. Specific location not identified |
| Medium | Oil on canvas, heavy impasto, worked wet into wet |
| Signature | Signed and dated in pale blue at the lower left. The reverse of the backing inscribed in ink, Artist Erik Holland |
| Frame | Substantial stepped molding in a mottled and pitted silver and bronze finish with a reeded outer edge, fitted with a wide cream linen liner. Custom framed by Aaron Brothers, the shop label present on the backing with the framer's name and the inspector's initials completed by hand. Aaron Brothers closed all but three of its stores in March 2018, which sets the outside date for the framing |
| Dimensions | To be confirmed |
| Condition | Very good. Paint film sound with no cracking, flaking or losses found and the impasto intact. Canvas taut. Frame and linen liner clean and sound with only light handling wear. Aaron Brothers label present and legible on the backing |
Why It Belongs in Your Home
Most landscape paintings on the market are anonymous. This one is by a named working painter with a training record, an exhibition history and gallery representation, and it is signed, dated and inscribed with his name on the back. That is the difference between a decorative canvas and a picture with a person behind it.
The palette does the work in a room. Lavender and violet against ochre and that carrying yellow is a warm, dusty, western register that sits naturally with oak, leather, worn kilim and unpainted plaster, and it reads well on a white wall without going cold. The silver and bronze frame keeps it from reading rustic.
The handling is what rewards a close look. Stand back and it is a ridge, a crag and a hillside of blooming brush. Stand close and it is ridges of wet paint pushed around in a hurry by somebody who was standing in front of the thing he was painting.
For a dealer or a designer working in the Great Basin, this is regional art with the paperwork. The artist is documented, the date is on the canvas, the framing brackets itself, and the subject is the country the buyer is standing in.
Every piece is packed with professional-grade materials: multiple foam layers, double-boxing, directional and fragile handling labels. For large furniture we use custom timber crating. We photograph packing before dispatch and can provide images on request.
White-glove delivery is complimentary within 100 miles of Reno, NV. National shipping quotes provided at checkout. All shipments are photographed and documented. Damage claims must be filed with the carrier; we provide all documentation needed to support your claim.
Local pickup is available at Viridian HQ (Reno, NV) with 2–4 days notice. Contact us to arrange. Private viewings also available.
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Antiques are irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind. Carrier handling is outside our control once a piece has left our facility, and major carriers including FedEx do not insure antiques. We do everything within our power to ensure safe transit, but cannot accept liability for carrier damage. If damage occurs in transit, we will provide full documentation to support your carrier claim.
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