The daughter of Oliver Oswald Holt, a civil servant, Holt studied at
Putney Art School and took evening classes at
Regent Street Polytechnic. In 1914, she started work with the Post Office in London as a telephonist, and served in the
Women's Land Army during
World War I. (herself an artist, married at one time to
Leslie Marr) limited her opportunities to paint during the 1920s but she studied the work of
Walter Sickert,
Jacob Epstein,
Jacob Kramer, and
David Bomberg during this time. Holt and Bomberg moved to
Ronda in Spain from 1954 to 1957, before returning to England due to Bomberg's failing health. After Bomberg's death, Holt focused on her own work, traveling to, often remote areas of, Mexico, Basutoland, Andalusia, Yugoslavia, Morocco, Turkey, and Iceland to paint, as well as continuing to promote Bomberg's legacy. == Exhibitions and collections ==