Morning
by Dod Procter, 1926
Oil on Canvas
From about 1922, female artist Dod Procter had begun to paint a series of simple, monumental portraits of young women that she knew. They all utilise the fall of light across the figures to give a powerful sense of volume. The model in this piece was Cissie Barnes, a sixteen-year-old daughter of a fisherman.
The focus of her work is painting portraits, that are usually of young women. Throughout the 1920s Dod Procter continued to paint single female figures, sometimes nude, others in softly draped clothes. From around 1922, she focused on painting a series of simplified, monumental images of young women of her acquaintance. They were typified by the volume of the figures, brought out by her use of light and shadow.
I feel a strong connection to the works of Dod Procter because her paintings are similar to the previous drawings I have done following my research into Nan Goldin and Ellen Gallagher. My drawings focus on people with influence around me, as young women, social standards and media are a big thing, by drawing these models, it allows me to analyse in-depth the position of power these women have. Is it due to the cost of clothing they are wearing, their natural appearance or their edited perfection? After seeing the way Procter analyses and establishes her works has influenced me to work into my simple drawings over the next few weeks and play around with, colour, light and shadow to see how an image is affected.
The following 3 images are ones that stood out to me, in regard to my own work...
Girl in White
Dinah Reading
Sleeping Girl
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