ABOUT
Curtis Holder (born Leicester, 1968) is a London-based artist who works in graphite and coloured pencil to create large-scale portraits and figurative works on paper.
Rooted in intimate conversations with his sitters, Holder’s practice blends dialogue and drawing to uncover the human, the subtle, and the often overlooked or marginalised. His multilayered pencil portraits take shape through a dynamic interplay of febrile lines, revealing the form, movement, and emotional depth of his subjects.
Holder gained widespread recognition in 2020 after winning Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. Since then, he has continued to garner critical acclaim through exhibitions, residencies, and commissions, earning numerous accolades, including The John Ruskin Prize in 2024.
In 2021, Holder held his first solo exhibition, Something Unspoken, at 45, Park Lane in London. He was appointed the National Theatre's first-ever Artist in Residence in 2022, leading to his 2023 exhibition The Makers: Portraits from Backstage.
In 2023, Holder was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and the Terrence Higgins Trust to create a posthumous portrait of Terry Higgins, one of the first people in the UK to die of an AIDS-related illness. He also presented his exhibition Curtis Holder: Portraits of Brotherhood at Guildford House Gallery in 2024, exploring themes of identity and masculinity through intimate portraits of Black and Brown men.
From 2023 to 2024, Holder completed an 18-month residency at Leeds Art Gallery in collaboration with the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute, focusing on addressing racial injustices in UK museums and galleries. In 2024–25, this work culminated in the exhibition Silent Echoes, Spoken Truths: Curtis Holder. During the same period, his solo exhibition Curtis Holder: Drawing Carlos Acosta at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery brought together the working drawings and portraits he created during Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, including his commissioned portrait of Carlos Acosta, director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Holder is a member of Contemporary British Portrait Painters (CBPP), The Society of Graphic Fine Art (SGFA), and The Pastel Society (PS), and his work is held in prominent public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Soho House.
In addition to his artistic practice, Holder has been a judge for several major international art competitions, including The Cass Art Prize (2024), The Derwent Art Prize (2023), and the Jackson’s Painting Prize (2022).
Video: At work in the studio
Which coloured pencils do I use?
Discover which pencils Curtis uses in a life drawing session and in the studio.
Derwent Artist Ambassador
As a Derwent Artist Ambassador, Curtis promotes the art of drawing and helps Derwent to develop products that enable all artists to do great work.