One of Los Angeles’ most iconic properties, Stahl House, has gone on sale for $25 million.
While the news has piqued the interest of the media - and potential buyers - around the world, the sale also resonates for British contemporary artist Nick Holdsworth.
That’s because the modernist masterpiece features in his work, Meeting at Stahl House, his reinterpretation of photographer Julius Shulman’s work.
The significance of the Stahl House
Built in 1960 after being designed by ambitious and ingenious architect Pierre Koenig for Buck and Carlotta Stahl, the property remained in the family’s hands for decades.
It famously became part of the Arts & Architecture magazine’s Case Study Program in early 1959, and was dubbed “Case Study House No. 22”. In the years since its completion, the Stahl House has been named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and added to the National Register of Historic Places, among other notable awards.
It’s one of several pieces from Nick that take their inspiration from celebrated mid-20th-century photographers including Slim Aarons, known for capturing the glamorous world of the wealthy and elite.
Nick Holdsworth’s reinterpretation
Best known for his hand-fi nished pop art portraits, mosaic pixel, and mixed-media creations, Holdsworth combines elements of popular culture with contemporary design.
His art style blends elements of both nostalgia and modernity, and his works are prized by numerous collectors. For example, Freddie Mercury's sister and Queen guitarist Brian May hold Nick’s portraits of singer Freddie Mercury in their private collections.
Early beginnings
Nick’s creative journey began in 1988, when he co-founded his own fashion label Purple Om / Random. It quickly became a global, cult T-shirt brand, selling in high end department stores, such as Harvey Nichols, Harrods, and Libertys, as well as Collette in Paris and Barneys in Tokyo.
Nick’s unique techniques and fascinating style soon caught the interest of the art industry, and Nick began to use fi ne art to express his love of fashion, music and pop culture.
His background in design and his digital skills quickly opened up a world of possibilities to combine digital technology with nostalgic inspiration.
Nick’s creative process
The process of creation begins when he selects an image, retouching and enhancing his chosen subject by removing imperfections, while also adjusting details through Photoshop’s layered approach.
Nick sometimes incorporates additional details from other images, integrating them seamlessly through masking.
He then pixelates the image, overlaying it with his chosen repeated icon, often a famous brand logo associated with the subject, before carefully refi ning each layer, ensuring the graphics remain visible and harmonious.
Nick then adds colour to each layer, meticulously hand-painting to fl atten tones with a tablet, matching the colours he'll use for the fi nal airbrushed painting.
The fi nal piece is printed monochrome in mosaic form and is then perfected by many hours of hand painting, utilising airbrushing, inks, stencils, pens, and brushes to achieve the desired tone and detail.
The finished pieces
Nick Holdsworth’s cutting-edge process contrasts with the nostalgic nature of the images he chooses.
Many of them are inspired by the musical and on-screen legends of his youth and hours spent fl icking through fashion and lifestyle magazines.
He also draws inspiration from Pop Art pioneers Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, as well as from music, fi lm, architecture, and global youth culture.
This unexpected combination imbues his works with emotional depth, occasional wit, and a surprisingly vintage style for something so contemporary.
His blending of popular culture elements with contemporary design, captures both nostalgia and modernity, appealing to collectors of British pop art, contemporary pixel mosaics, and mixed-media pieces.
Repeated graphics and individual pixels
“For my latest technique I’m now using larger individual pixels and repeated graphics to create my mosaics, each piece is less photographic, less perfect, more abstract and textured,” Holdsworth said.
Once created, the final piece is printed and mounted before being hand cut, then soaked, to accentuate each pixel.
Each piece is then hand painted with a brush using a mix of acrylic ink, gel medium and gloss medium, to give the ink body, picking out the detail, pixel by pixel.
Collaborations
Nick has worked on collaborations with Levis Red and Eliminator in Japan, Block 60 in Italy, the UK’s Griffi n Studio, and Harvey Nichols.
Each of Nick’s Slim Aarons pieces is reproduced with the exceptionally rare approval of Getty Images, custodians of the late photographer’s archive.
Where can I buy Nick Holdsworth’s work?
We’re proud to say Nick Holdsworth is among the stable of exciting British and international artists showcased at Turner Art Perspective.
You can browse Nick’s works here.
What is Turner Art Perspective?
Founded in 2011 by art dealer and framer Soo Turner, who brings over 30 years of experience in the art world, Turner Art Perspective curates exhibitions that merge creativity, innovation, and investment in contemporary art.
Our gallery represents established and emerging artists from around the world, showcasing their work through UK exhibitions, London pop-up shows, European collaborations, and global art fairs.
