Holden - Raymond J

Holden, Raymond J. (1901-1993)

Raymond Holden was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts in 1901. In 1923 he graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1937, he moved to Sterling where he resided for most of the rest of his life. He was a member of the American Institute of Graphic Artists. Holden provided illustrations for ten books, and he created Christmas card designs for the American Artist Group of New York for forty years. He also painted watercolors of “classic New England scenes” for Hallmark Cards. Holden worked for the WPA Art Project on the Index of American Design contributing 77 color plates between 1936 and 1937. He later donated his drawings and publishing proofs to the Slater Museum in Norwich. He was active in local conservation activities, producing a map of the Farmington Valley in Connecticut and Massachusetts for the Farmington River Watershed Association. In 1968 and 1970 he was a delegate from Sterling to the Northeastern Connecticut Regional Planning Agency and served on its Executive Committee. In 1972 Holden donated a mural depicting historical landmarks in Sterling to the town, which hung it in the new town building. Holden died in 1993 in his beloved Sterling.

Sources: WPA Artist’s Work Card; AskART; Social Security Death Index; Who Was Who in American Art (1985), p. 288;Hartford Courant, “Watershed Assn. Will publish Map of River Valley,” November 18, 1960; “Planning Agency to Elect First Full-Term Officers,” February 26, 1968; “Ryan Heads Northeast Plan Group,” March 1, 1970; “Transportation Report Adopted,” March 1, 1972; “Art Exhibition to Open Today,” May 7, 1973; “Artist to Exhibit Oils, Watercolors,” September 7, 1973; “College Awards 37 Degrees,” June 3, 1974.

Works of Art Listed in CT Archives’ database from Raymond Holden:

Holden, Raymond J.