Boscoe Holder

Boscoe Holder (16 July 1921 – 21 April 2007), born Arthur Aldwyn Holder in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago, was Trinidad and Tobago's leading contemporary painter, who also had a celebrated international career spanning six decades as a designer and visual artist, dancer, choreographer and musician.

Living in London, England, during the 1950s and 1960s, Boscoe Holder has been credited with introducing limbo dancing and steel-pan playing to Britain, performing on British television and radio, in variety and nightclubs, in films, and at well-known theatres in London's West End. His company also danced for Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation in 1953, and, two years later, at Windsor Castle.

He is considered one of the top painters from the Caribbean and his works are in many collections around the world. Particularly recognizable for his paintings of people of colour, reflecting his appreciation of Caribbean people and culture, Holder often used his dancers as models, his "favourite" being his wife Sheila who was also lead dancer in his company. Boscoe Holder biography at christianholder.com

Summary of the life of Boscoe Holder, Trinidad Express Newspapers, 31 July 2011.

"Boscoe Holder", The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago.

Boscoe Holder chronology and The Upper Room Art Gallery.

"Boscoe Holder (1921–2007)", IMDb entry, including credits from three episodes of the Danger Man (US: Secret Agent) TV series.

Stephen Bourne, "Boscoe Holder" (obituary), The Independent on Sunday, 23 April 2007.

John Cowley, Obituary, The Guardian, 2 May 2007.

"Boscoe Holder Vintage Footage": Boscoe Holder singing and playing the piano; and Sheila Holder singing, with Boscoe at the piano. YouTube.

Hilton Als, Peter Doig, and Angus Cook, "Discovering the Art of Boscoe Holder, Trinidadian Master", New York Review of Books, 3 September 2010.

Rhoda Reddock, Address to Special Viewing and Dedication of Exhibition "Life Drawing: The Artists' Male Studies – Paintings and Drawings" – Boscoe Holder – 2 October 2011, Upper Room Art Gallery, Mt. St. Benedict, St. Augustine.

"Drum Dance 1956", British Pathé, 12/03/1956: "Boscoe Holder's dance troupe at London's 'Cote d'Azure Club' perform some native Caribbean dancing".