Hail And Farewell Harold Tweed “H” Holden

Iconic Western artist Harold Tweed “H” Holden was celebrated for his notable historic paintings and outdoor sculpted monuments.

At the service celebrating the life of revered Western artist Harold T. Holden, troubadour R.W. Hampton — his longtime friend and one of the presenters when Holden was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners and given the bronze Wrangler Award he himself sculpted — sang the hymns “In the Shadow of the Cross” and “How Great Thou Art” and his own ballad “Born to Be a Cowboy.”

“There are so many great stories about H, but one of my favorites, which is coming full circle now, is when he met Frank “Pistol Pete” Eaton as a 5-year-old,” says his wife of nearly 35 years, Edna Mae Holden. “It seems fitting that at the time of his death he was working on this sculpture of his idol that he had met 78 years earlier.” Following Holden’s passing on December 6, 2023, with his widow’s permission we’re sharing more about the life of the accomplished artist through excerpts from his funeral program.

“Harold Tweed Holden, or H as he was called by most folks, was born in Enid, Oklahoma, March 28, 1940, to Patrick Miles and Betty Jane Failing Holden. Although H was the first professional fine arts in the family, he came from a family of creative and talented inventors and engineers. In 1915, his great-grandfather George Failing invented the bottle-capping machine that is still used on beverages today. His grandfather, oil pioneer George E. Failing, invented the first portable drilling rig, as well as numerous drill bits, still used in the industry today. He credited his love of horses to his father, who was an avid horseman and polo player. Tragically, when H was 6 years old, his father was killed in a plane crash in Enid, Oklahoma, leaving his mother a widow at age 31 with three children under the age of 10. With help from grandparents, his mother provided a stable and loving home for H, his older brother, Tim, and younger sister, Kathy. … After Betty remarried, little sister Myrlane joined the family.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy Edna Mae Holden

“After graduating from Enid High School, H attended Oklahoma State University, but a trip to Houston to work on an oil rig in 1959 resulted in a chance meeting with an instructor at the Texas Academy of Art, where he subsequently graduated with an art degree. He then began his career in the commercial art field, working in Wichita, Kansas, and in Houston, where he eventually took the position of art director at Horseman Magazine. While working during the day for other folks, H began his fine art career at night, painting and sculpting his first love, the West.

He was completely self-taught as a sculptor.

“In 1963, H married Mary Lou Church in Houston and afterward Tim Patrick Holden and Shannon Jane (Holden) Meyer were born. On March 22, 1989, he married Edna Mae (Simmons) in Santa Fe at the Church of Loretto and they built a loving partnership of over 34 years, raising longhorns and quarter horses.

“After a tour of duty with the Navy during Vietnam aboard the USS Rainier, H ventured out on his own in 1973, to try and make it as a professional fine artist. Commissions from the National Cattlemen’s Association from 1982 to 1986 helped, and collectors began taking notice of his work at a time when very few people were making their living as fine artists in the Western genre.”

A long list of his artistic accomplishments follows, from his first monument, Boomer, which was used on a U.S. postage stamp and as the symbol of the Cherokee Strip in both Kansas and Oklahoma, to 24 additional monuments, including his U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and his larger-than-life monument of E.K. Gaylord at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. A similarly impressive list of accolades includes membership in the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America organization in 2013, which he then served as an emeritus member; induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2014, the highest honor the state can bestow on one of its citizens; and becoming the first Oklahoma artist to be inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City in 2017 in recognition of his lifelong pursuit of capturing the West through his art. Much of this he managed after a single lung transplant.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Phil Shockley

“2023 was a big year with H celebrating his 83rd year of life, his thirteenth year with a new lung, and 50-plus years as a professional fine artist.

“H is survived by his wife Edna Mae of the home, [family members], friends, collectors, and fellow artists that he considered brothers. …”

The program, and Holden’s earthly chapter, ended with a fitting cowboy sendoff, 2 Timothy 4: 7 – 8: “I fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

From our May/June 2024 issue.