HAROLD T. HOLDEN, or "H" as he is called by many, was born in Enid, Oklahoma. Although "H" was the first professional fine artist in the family, he comes from a family of 
creative and talented inventors and engineers. In 1915, his great-grandfather George Failing invented the machine that creates the bottle cap that is still used on beverages 
today. His grandfather, oil pioneer George E. Failing, invented the first portable drilling rig, as well as numerous drilling bits, still used in the industry today. "H" credits his 
love of horses to his father who was an avid horseman.

 
After graduating from Enid High School, "H" attended Oklahoma State University and graduated from the Texas Academy of Art in Houston. He then began his art career in 
the commercial art field, working in Wichita, Kansas, and in Houston, Texas, and eventually took a 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.

 
After a tour of duty with the Navy in the Vietnam War, "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 in 1982-1986 helped, and collectors began taking notice of his work.

 
"H" is a member of the Texas Cowboy Artists Association (TCA) and the National Western Artists Association and has received numerous gold medals in both organizations 
for his paintings and sculptures. He is known for his attention to detail, and particularly his sculptures of horses. Believing that an artist should know his subject matter, "H"
 spends much of his leisure time team roping and staying close to the cowboy way of life.

 
In 1987, "H" was chosen to sculpt a series of commemorative bronzes to depict the 165 year history of the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma and Kansas. He has completed 
eight monuments, the first being "Boomer" for the city of Enid, Oklahoma. This monument went on to become the official symbol of the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma and 
Kansas by legislative decree, and was the symbol also used by "H" when he was commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service to produce a commemorative US postage 
stamp for the Cherokee Strip, with 92,000,000 stamps being released on April 17, 1993. 


 
In 1987, "H" completed his second monument, "The Rancher", for the Ranching Heritage Museum in Lubbock, Texas. Altus, Oklahoma, then commissioned "H" to sculpt a 
piece to commemorate their centennial which resulted in his "Crossing the Red" piece dedicated in November of 1991. On April 17,1993, "H's"fourth monument, "Holding 
the Claim", which is a companion piece to "Boomer" and commemorates the largest land run in history was unveiled in historic Government Springs Park in Enid, Oklahoma.

His fifth monument was commissioned by Security National Bank of Enid, Oklahoma, of a life-size Indian figure, "Keeper of the Plains’, unveiled in April, 1994, on the 
Garfield County Courthouse lawn. "H's" second Native American monument is a one and one fourth life size bronze entitled "Vision Seeker". It was unveiled in Altus, OK 
in May of 1996.

In June, 2000, "H's" Civil War monument of Corporal Noah van Buren Ness was unveiled in Ness City, Kansas. It was the first Civil War sculpture in Kansas in over 
60 years. In October, 2000, "Headin' to market", "H's" life and one quarter monument was set outside the historic OKC stockyards at the corner of Agnew and Exchange in 
Oklahoma City. His work has been reproduced on the August 1981 and April 1987 covers of Western Horseman Magazine, and in it's February 1996 Gallery.

Cowboy Magazine featured "H's" work on its Summer 1996 cover. He was featured in an article in the November 1996 edition of The American Quarter Horse Association 
Journal. His work is in the book The Texas Cowboy, published by Texas Christian University Press, the Vernon Company Calendar since 1995, and Contemporary Western 
Artists. His work has also been featured in the May/June 1996 and January/February 1991 editions of Art of the West Magazine.

 
"H's" work is included in the museum collections of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Woolaroc Museum in Bartlsville, Oklahoma, the Ranching 
Heritage Museum in Lubbock, Texas, the Whitney Gallery at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming, the Elizabeth Dunnegan Gallery of Fine Art in Bolivar, Missouri, 
the Museum of the Cherokee Strip in Enid, Oklahoma.

 
"H" received the lifetime achievement award from the Oklahoma Sculpture Society and also was inducted into the Mountain Oyster Club as a lifetime member in 2000.
He has done commission work for or has pieces in the collections of Oklahoma Arts Council, Henry Kissinger, Prosser Mellon and T. Boone Pickens, National Cattlemen's 
Association, Keystone Resort in Keystone, Colorado, Archer-Daniels Midland Company, Hughes Drilling Company, Johnston Grain Company, Ward Oil Company, 
Ranching Heritage Association, American Quarter Horse Association, the US Postal Service, the University of Oklahoma and the Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.

 
His work can be seen at the following yearly shows: Prix de West at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Masters of the American West at the Gene 
Autry Museum in Los Angeles, California, Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, Wyoming, the Peppertree Ranch Art Show in 
Santa Ynez, California, the Mountain Oyster Show in Tuscon, Arizona, the Haley Memorial Library Show in Midland, Texas, and the Sul Ross University Show in Trapping
 of Texas.

 
"H" is the featured artist at the Catllemen's Western Art Show and sale 2001 at San Luis Obispo in april and also one of 2 sculptures featured at the Gilcrease Rendezvous
in Tulsa in April 2001. H's studio is near Kremlin, Oklahoma, where he lives with his wife Edna Mae. His son Tim is a graphic artist, and daughter Shannon is an elementary 
school teacher.