Joseph Holston

Joseph Holston

Joseph Holston grew up in the small Black community of Hawkins Lane, in Chevy Chase, a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. His work reflects the strong sense of Black identity nurtured by his upbringing in that close-knit community. In 1960 the family moved to Washington, DC, where Holston was accepted into the commercial art program at Chamberlain Vocational High School.

Holston worked as a commercial artist/illustrator from 1964 to 1970. He also pursued independent study by enrolling in art classes throughout the Washington, DC area. These included classes with the noted portraitist Marcos Blahove (1928-2012). In the summer of 1971 Holston traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico to study with artist, Richard Vernon Goetz (1915-1991), a well-known portrait, landscape, and still-life painter.

Inspired by Rembrandt’s prints, Holston began creating etchings in 1974. Holston incorporates an array of visual effects in his etchings, through the use of hard ground, soft ground and aquatint, as in Woman with Pipe (1974), one of his first prints, now included in the permanent collection of The Phillips Collection in Washington, D. C. Other prints are included in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among other museum collections.

Major solo exhibitions include the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, and the Federal Reserve Arts Program in Washington, D. C. He has been Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, North Carolina A & T State University, and the Experimental Printmaking Institute at Lafayette College.

Other public art institutions and museum that have the art of Joseph Holston in their permanent collections include The Baltimore Museum of Art, DuSable Museum of African American History, Federal Reserve Board Fine Art Collection, Georgia Museum of Art, Library of Congress Fine Print Collection, and countless others.

Public collections

Acoustic Blend etching by Joseph Holston (Last One!)

Acoustic Blend etching by Joseph Holston

$2,200.00

After The Applause by Joseph Holston

After The Applause by Joseph Holston

$4,800.00

Ballerina by Joseph Holston

Ballerina by Joseph Holston

$4,300.00

Cello Concerto etching by Joseph Holston

Cello Concerto etching by Joseph Holston

$1,200.00

Church Sisters by Joseph Holston (SOLD)

Church Sisters by Joseph Holston is an intricate original oil painting and fabric collage on canvas.

$19,500.00

Grabbing The Headlines by Joseph Holston (Sold Out!)

Grabbing The Headlines by Joseph Holston

Jazz Duo by Joseph Holston

Jazz Duo by Joseph Holston

$4,600.00

Letter From A Birmingham Jail by Joseph Holston

Letter From A Birmingham Jail by Joseph Holston

$6,500.00

Looking At You by Joseph Holston

Looking At You by Joseph Holston

$21,500.00

Man in the Boat by Joseph Holston

Man in the Boat by Joseph Holston

$2,800.00

Musical Trance etching by Joseph Holston

Musical Trance etching by Joseph Holston

$1,425.00

Night Dreaming etching by Joseph Holston

Night Dreaming etching by Joseph Holston

$1,800.00

Park Bench etching by Joseph Holston

Park Bench etching by Joseph Holston

$1,700.00

Reminiscing by Joseph Holston

Reminiscing by Joseph Holston

$6,500.00

Rope A Dope etching by Joseph Holston

Rope A Dope etching by Joseph Holston

$3,200.00

Saturday Night Fight by Joseph Holston

Saturday Night Fight by Joseph Holston

$4,600.00