Artist’s granddaughter searches for subjects’ families
Anne Holland Polk is searching for the family members of portrait subjects done in pastels by her grandmother, the late Barbara Holland.
Holland was the wife of a prominent Avondale dentist and mother of five. For a time, she was also a student of the late Jay Harder, Jacksonville’s master portrait artist, whose studio was near St. Mark’s and Carter’s Pharmacy in Ortega.
Polk has possession of over 20 20×26 pastel portraits that her grandmother had signed and dated 1960. They depict women and a few men, including one priest. Only a few have identifying names.
Holland was a member of the Riverside Garden Club. There is speculation that the ladies in the portraits were also Garden Club members. “The common thread is that they were able to afford to have Jay Harder do portraits of their families or children,” Polk said.
It seems likely that Harder, as an artist, would have taken photographs of his subjects in order to finish details in his high-caliber portraits after the families had sat for him. Polk remembers this being the case when she sat as a seven-year-old for a family portrait; Harder sketched them and then photographed them.
Harder’s photos were then, it seems, used by his students for learning purposes as he taught them how to shadow and shade. That could be a reason why a subject in any one of Holland’s portraits might have had a different hair color in life. Polk recently discovered this phenomenon when Caroline Pickett Bentley, who saw Polk’s Facebook posting about her Grandma Holland’s pastel portraits, picked up a portrait of her own grandmother, Bobby Arnold, whom she recognized but with different hair color.
Susan Davis, 91, recognized herself in the Facebook posting and came to pick up one of the portraits from Polk. Davis told Polk that she was having her children’s portrait done by Jay in 1960 when he took her photograph. A third portrait has already been claimed by a daughter who recognized her mother, who is now deceased.
Since Holland’s passing in 1981, her family members have preserved the portraits because they have an appreciation for artwork and because there was sentimental attachment, being the work of a late family member. But now, Polk feels it’s time to “find the real people who they belong to,” knowing that the works could be treasured by the families of the subjects.
Polk and the Hollands wish to gift these pieces to the subjects and their families. Readers who recognize anyone in these portraits can email [email protected]. Though currently residing in Virginia, Polk arranges for the portraits to be picked up in Ortega.
Recognize anyone in these portraits?
Perhaps you have information to share about an image, a likeness, or something worth mentioning.
Please send correspondence to [email protected] and type Resident Portraits in the subject line.
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