Jane Dees Lovett Holt (1947–)

Jane Dees Lovett Holt, an award-winning artist and art educator from Little Rock (Pulaski County), specializes in portraiture and plein air (outdoor) painting. Holt’s refined technique and ability to capture the beauty and essence of her subjects have earned her accolades, with her oil paintings featured in both regional and national art publications.

Jane Dees was born in Little Rock on August 25, 1947, one of six children of Ben Woodall Dees and Marcia Collier Dees. She attended public schools in Little Rock.

She married attorney Tom Forest Lovett, and they had two sons. After Lovett’s death, she married Jack Wilson Holt Jr., a former chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Jane Lovett Holt’s journey in the arts began at what is now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) in Little Rock under Jack Diner, a well-respected medical illustrator. She continued her formal education at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County), earning a BA in art. During her time there, she studied under influential instructors Lothar Krueger and Howard Whitlatch, who helped shape her foundational skills and artistic vision. She furthered her studies in portrait and figurative drawing and painting at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and AMFA.

Holt participated in professional workshops and studied under celebrated artists such as Michael Shane Neal, Kevin Kresse, and Barry Thomas. She also participated in the Plein Air Masters’ Program in France with Jeff Legg, enriching her understanding of outdoor painting and significantly influencing her distinctive style.

Holt’s work is known for its soft realism, a style that merges technical precision with a gentle, emotive quality. She describes her art as “a blend of realistic detail with a softer, impressionistic touch.” Primarily using oils as her medium, Holt often paints en plein air or from live models, capturing the natural light and atmosphere of her surroundings. Her portraits are especially noted for their ability to convey the character and depth of her subjects, while her landscapes showcase the natural beauty of Arkansas and other regions.

In a 2006 exhibition, Holt’s painting Morning, Petit Jean received the Jurors’ Commendation Award at the Inaugural Scholarship Art Exhibition at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute; her painting Petit Jean II was featured on the invitations to the exhibition. That same year, she was chosen to participate in the Art Across Arkansas program, sponsored by the Clinton Foundation and the THEA Foundation. This traveling exhibition highlighted her plein air work and showcased her creative process, serving as a model for similar programs nationwide.

In 2008, Holt was selected for the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Commission’s calendar, which featured her painting Arkansas Autumn. She accompanied First Lady Ginger Beebe on a book-signing tour that year and also joined Plein Air Artists Colorado. The February 2008 issue of American Art Collector magazine quoted Holt about plein air painting and featured one of her works. Her painting Ozark Mountain Morning was selected for the March 2008 cover of The Ozarks Magazine. She was chosen for the Nomadas del Arte show in 2008 at Sage Creek Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and again in 2009 at Southwest Gallery in Dallas, where her plein air painting True West won the People’s Choice Award. In 2016, Holt presented over eighty paintings in a solo retrospective exhibition at Wildwood Park for the Arts. She was also a charter member of the Portrait Society of America and an associate member of the Oil Painters of America. Holt has taught art in both public and private schools.

Holt’s paintings are part of private collections across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Her work is deeply influenced by Arkansas’s cultural and natural heritage, reflecting her admiration for the state’s landscapes and people. For instance, her piece Blossoms of the Valley, set near Russellville (Pope County), depicts a young pioneer couple in a vibrant valley filled with colorful wildflowers and surrounded by woodlands.

Holt’s catalog features many standout paintings, including Red Canoe, Jonathan, The Trinity, Little Rock Skyline, Old Broadway Bridge, and Forever Arkansas. Her work is displayed at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, and other public spaces. Holt’s triptychs at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock are significant both artistically and commemoratively. These six-foot-by-twelve-foot artworks depict scenes of sheep in fields, embodying the theme of the Good Shepherd. She also painted the official portrait of her husband, who served as chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1984 to 1995, that is displayed in the Arkansas Justice Building in Little Rock.

Holt took a hiatus from art in 2018 to focus on her family. She lives on her family farm near Pinnacle Mountain along Arkansas Highway 10.

For additional information:
Jane Lovett Holt. http://www.janelovettholt.com/ (accessed March 13, 2025).

Rodgers, C. “Jane Lovett Holt.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, November 20, 2004.

“Steppin’ Out for Art.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 13, 2005, p. 7B.

Thomas A. Teeter
Little Rock, Arkansas