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Dod Procter , English, 1890-1972

Title

Sleeping Girl

Datec.1927

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

61 x 58 cm

Signedlower left: Dod Procter

Credit LinePresented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1954

Object numberNGI.1294

DescriptionDod Procter (née Doris Shaw) moved to Newlyn in Cornwall at the age of 15, to study at the art school run by Stanhope Forbes and his wife Elizabeth. She later travelled widely with her husband, the artist Ernest Procter, but lived and worked in Cornwall for the rest of her life. Procter exhibited a painting of a sleeping girl entitled Morning (1926; Tate, London) at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1927. Critically acclaimed and popular with the public, it was subsequently purchased for the nation. Following this success, Procter became one of the best-known artists in Britain at the time. She painted a further series of images of young women, either asleep or introspective, in a cool detached style.
This painting depicts a slumbering girl clutching a plump pillow. She has a distinctive bobbed haircut, which was fashionable in the 1920s. The model for the picture was Cissie Barnes, the daughter of a Newlyn fisherman, who had also posed for Morning. Procter’s use of colour is typically restrained. Silvery grey tones enhance the sculptural appearance of the girl. Procter would have painted this work in the natural light of her cottage, with its whitewashed interior walls.

March 2016

ProvenancePresented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1954 Exhibition HistoryXVI Exposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, Venice, 1928

Shades of Grey: Painting without Colour, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 June - 29 September 2013

Label TextProcter lived and worked in Newlyn, Cornwall, where she had trained at the school run by Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes. During the 1920s, she became highly regarded for her paintings of introspective young women, executed in a cool detached style. The model for this picture was Cissie Barnes, a local fisherman’s daughter. Procter’s restrained use of colour enhances the sculptural appearance of the sleeping girl.