Gene Holtan

Gene Holtan (1930-2016) created a body of work which is a declaration of energy and life. He worked in fearless gestural marks to create complex canvases that are charged and alive. Each painting is a channeled act that feels deeply thoughtful.

Born in 1930 in Saskatchewan, Canada, Holtan studied at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary and later at Art Center College in Los Angeles, not graduating from either, “but learning everything that mattered along the way.” He had a prolific career as a commercial artist and illustrator, working for The Saturday Evening Post, the NFL, Rolling Stone, and Neiman Marcus, among many others. His wit and charisma made him a beloved teacher at the Chouinard Art Institute and beyond, as well as president of the Society of Illustrators.

In 1974, Holtan left Los Angeles with his family, settling at a home in Santa Cruz, where art and conversation filled every room. There, he printed postcards on his press and sold them up and down the coast, resulting in the famous “No Puffin” drawing.

In his final fifteen years, Holtan turned entirely to painting, leaving narrative for abstraction. The works from this period, presented here, reveal an artist liberated from constraint in an open channel. Instructions for Arrival is an abstract visual maze that invites reflection. His canvases suggest structure, vitality and play.

When Holtan passed in 2016, he left behind both a body of work and a philosophy. His last words—“Follow the instructions to the door. When you get to the door, throw the instructions away.”—feel like a perfect summation of his art. Each canvas is a door. Once you’ve arrived, you decide.