Edith Holmes's father was a schoolteacher and her early years were spent in Hamilton, Devonport and Scottsdale, before the family settled at Dilkhoosha in Moonah, which remained Edith's home until her death. She studied art at the Hobart Technical College under Lucien Dechaineux (1918-1919 and 1922-1924) and under Mildred Lovett in (1925-1926, 1928-11931 and 1935). From 1930-1931, Edith attended Julian Ashton's Sydney Art School.
During the 1930s, Edith shared a studio in Collins Street, in Hobart, with artists Mildred Lovett, Florence Rodway, Dorothy Stoner, Ethel Nicholls and Violet Vimpany. She travelled regularly to Melbourne, where she held seven exhibitions between 1938 and 1951.
Holmes's work is characterised by highly expressive colours and her use of the Tasmanian landscape and urban environment as subject matter, which received more praise from interstate critics than locals. Her work is represented in collections at the Australian National Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the Devonport Gallery and in many private collections.
In 1967, she observed that 'Tasmanian women painters are not being recognised in the same way that women painters in other states are ... we just don't have the professional critics that Melbourne and Sydney have.'
A founding member of the Tasmanian Group of Painters, she exhibited with them for 30 years. She travelled to England and France in 1958, 1960 and 1971, holding an exhibition in Tasmania House, in London, in 1958.
Edith Holmes was listed on Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2005 for her service to the arts.
(Adapted from the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women entry)
