Portrait of a Seated Woman

Thea Proctor (1879-1966)

Proctor studied at the Sydney Art School from 1896 under Julian Ashton, then at the St John's Wood School of Art in London in 1903. Ashton and Lambert became lifelong friends and she modelled for him many times. Apart from two years spent in Sydney between 1912 and 1914 she worked in London 1903 from to 1921, associating with fellow Australian expatriates Charles Conder, Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts. She produced pencil drawings, decorative watercolours and fans influenced by Conder and Japanese woodblock prints.

In 1912, Proctor became the first female Australian artist to exhibit at the Venice Biennale. Her watercolour on silk 'Coquetterie', with its characteristic depiction of costuming, was exhibited for Great Britain.

After returning to Sydney, Proctor exhibited with Margaret Preston in 1925 then went on to exhibit with George Lambert, Grace Cossington Smith, Marion Hall Best, Elioth Gruner, Margaret Preston, Roland Wakelin and Roy de Maistre.

Medium: pencil on paper, signed lower right: Thea Proctor.

Size: 33.5 x 24cm (60 x 48.5cm framed).

Condition: very good for its age and has recently been reframed using Art Glass, archival materials and a black stained wooden frame.

PROVENANCE: The Estate of Sue Hewitt, Sydney (1941-2024).