Footnotes

Provenance
Walter A. May, Pittsburgh, acquired from the 1928 exhibition, thence by descent to
Florence & Walter A. May, Jr., Pittsburgh, thence by descent to the present owner
Private Collection, U.S.A.

Exhibited
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Twenty-Seventh International Exhibition of Paintings, 18 October-9 December 1928, cat.no.167 (as Portrait of a Girl)
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, An Exhibition of Paintings by Dod Procter, 10 December 1936 - 17 January 1937, cat.no.16

Literature
Anthony Bertram, 'Contemporary British Painting. Dod Procter', The Studio, January 1929, vol.97, p.92 (ill.b&w)

Girl in her Petticoat is a typical example of the body of work developed by Dod Procter from c.1923 until the late 1920s, for which she is best known: a simply dressed solitary girl or young woman, depicted bust-length or in three quarter length in a loose neutral-coloured tunic, or sometimes nude, sat in deep contemplation in a relatively austere and naturally-lit plain setting. The first of Procter's archetypal figures to receive public acclaim was The Model in 1925, which was declared by the eminent art critic Frank Rutter to "represent the new vision of the twentieth century". This was followed in 1927 by Morning (Tate Modern, London), which was celebrated as "The Picture of the Year" (The Sketch, May 1927), acquired by the Daily Mail for the nation and resulted in Procter's shot to fame.

In Girl in her Petticoat, the sitter's flushed cheeks, facial features, hair and limbs, especially her hands, are the focus of the painting. The demure tones are offset by the deep reddish-brown tint of the mahogany chair, the crisp white petticoat and by the girl's own features, her glossy auburn hair tucked behind her left ear and her ice-blue eyes. Procter demonstrated her handling of light and shade in a subtle way, experimenting with the sculptural effect of her line and brushwork, using the plain clothing as a base from which to build and 'carve out' the folds of the fabric. In its austere simplicity and its lack of visual distractions, the viewer's focus is directed towards the resonating emotional and contemplative intensity of the work.

The angle of the composition and its magnified cropped effect give the beholder the impression of being in the room with the sitter and create a sense of intimacy. Like Degas, Bonnard and Matisse, Procter experimented with perspective and the traditional picture plane. This technique is also found in Girl in White (1923) (Stoke on Trent City Museum and Art Gallery), The Model (1925), Girl in Blue (1925) (Laing Art Gallery), The Lunch Hour (1926) (The Fine Art Society) and Morning (1926) (Tate Modern).

The sitter in the present painting was Cissie Barnes, a local fishing girl who had sat for Morning and other portraits by Procter, including The Model (1925) and Girl Asleep (1927) (aka Sleeping Girl, National Gallery of Ireland). Procter adopted the Newlyn School tradition of hiring local people as models and setting them in interior spaces. However, rather than applying a Realist approach to their representation, she used their bodies as a base on which to transform them into thick-limbed sculptural forms in line with her Modernist vision. This was influenced by a resurgence of interest in Neoclassicism at the time, which swept across Western Europe, and was exemplified by the work of Picasso. Procter was drawn to the heftiness and immensity of his figures' limbs and the magnification of their fingers and toes, which she channelled into her own work.

In 1928, Procter submitted the present painting, then entitled Portrait of a Girl (no. 167), to the annual International Exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA (18 October-9 December), which showcased selected works by contemporary artists predominantly from the US and Europe.(1) Procter was proving popular in the US, having exhibited at the International almost annually since 1924 and having sent Morning on a travelling exhibition to New York the previous year (1927), and she was already building up a roster of US buyers and a presence in the US press.(2) Such was Procter's reputation at the time, that she also sat on the International's Advisory Committee and Jury for Great Britain that year, along with Paul Nash.

Girl in her Petticoat was awarded First Honourable Mention at the International, which carried a prize of $300.(3) She had previously received an Honourable Mention for The Back Bedroom in 1926, which, in terms of composition and subject-matter, was similar to Girl in a Petticoat. It was acquired by Walter May, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and philanthropist from Pittsburgh, in November 1928.

In its review of the1928 exhibition, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that, "Mrs. Procter's compositions are always interesting, her restrained colors pleasing, and her method of handling the human form satisfying. The 'Portrait of a Girl' is worthy of an award..."(4) The painting was featured in The Springfield Daily Republican, The Los Angeles Press, The Pittsburgh Press; and mentioned in The Washington Post and The San Francisco Examiner among others. The following year, the art historian, Anthony Bertram, featured the work in his article "Contemporary British Painting: Dod Procter" for the British Studio magazine (vol 97, 1929), under the title Girl in her Petticoat.

The painting was loaned by Walter May for Procter's solo retrospective show at the Carnegie in December 1936 to January 1937 (cat.no.16). The Carnegie Magazine, in its review of the exhibition, described the work's figurative pose as "unique", in which "great solidity of form is achieved".(5)

Other examples by Procter held in US public art collections, include Sheelah Hynes (1916) (The Wolfsonian, Florida), Brother and Sister (1922) (The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh) and Girl with a Guitar (1927) (Indianapolis Museum of Art).

Trained at the Stanhope School of Painting in Newlyn (1907-1910) and the Académie Colarossi in Paris (1910-11), Dod Procter became one of the leading artists of the 1920s and early 1930s, a national icon and star, becoming ARA in 1934 and RA in 1942. Procter led a colourful life in the art colonies of South-West Cornwall and later in Hampstead, mixing with fellow artists Laura Knight, Gluck, Cedric Morris and Frank Dobson, travelling the world and exhibiting both nationally and internationally.

1. A black and white reproduction photograph of the work is held in the Tate Archives. Procter labelled the work "Girl in a Petticoat (Cissie Barnes) 1928"/1st Honourable Mention Pittsburgh International 1928/Sold 150" (TGA 7920). For the purposes of this sale, Bonhams has adopted the title thus inscribed by Procter. Procter also submitted three other paintings to the Carnegie that year. Eileen no.164 (Penlee House Gallery in Penzance, on loan), Girl with a Guitar no. 166 (Indianapolis Museum of Art), Baby in Long Clothes no. 165 (1927) (National Gallery of Ireland) and Burmese Dancing Girl no. 168.
2. Procter was gaining international recognition. That same year (1928) Procter also exhibited at the Venice Biennale and in Buenos Aires.
3. For reference, Andre Derain was awarded First Prize, while Marie Laurencin received an Honorable Mention.
4. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 19th, 1928.
5. 'An Exhibition of Paintings by Dod Procter', 10 December 1936 to 17 January 1937', cat.no.16.
John O'Connor Jr., 'Paintings by Dod Procter', Carnegie Magazine, vol. X, no. 7 (December, 1936), 210.

We are grateful to Alexandra Kett-Baumann, Doctoral Student at the University of Bristol, for compiling this catalogue entry.