Patrick Proctor

PATRICK PROCTOR (1936-2003)
Lithograph, issue 41/62.
Hand signed and justified.
Measurements: 43 x 61 cm; 57 x 79 cm (frame).
In 1962 he became a professional artist and had his first exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in London's Cork Street in 1963[2], a major commercial success that helped confirm his reputation in a wider artistic circle, including theater and music (he won numerous commissions for pop album covers). A year later, Procktor appeared in Bryan Robertson's New Generation exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, a show that also raised the profile of other artists such as David Hockney, Bridget Riley and John Hoyland. Beginning in 1964, Procktor, Vaughan, Robert Medley, among others, participated in a drawing group at Procktor's home that became an "intergenerational gay network." Procktor's work, primarily in oils, acrylics and watercolors, drew on Pop Art influences, but was also influenced by his travels. He visited Italy, Greece, India, Egypt, China and Japan, among other places), and once stated that "the light in Egypt is violet, in China narcissus, in Venice opalescent." He was also adept at etching, producing a sequence to illustrate a new 1976 edition of Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In 1984 he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of St. John the Baptist in Chichester Cathedral. His model for the various figures of St. John was his friend, the photographer David Gwinnutt. Procktor's painting, The Guardian Readers, was used as the cover of Elton John's 1976 album, Blue Moves.