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Patrick Proctor (1936-2003), Hiberno-English painter was one of the great exponents of the Swinging Sixties & the culture of gay liberation. He is a seminal figure in gay art history & an important painter in watercolours. He is almost forgotten today. 
Proctor was born in Dublin & moved to London in 1940 after his dad’s death. He attended Highgate School where Kyffin Williams was one of his teachers. He could not afford University & worked in a builders’ merchant before being conscripted to the navy. Slade Interior & Flowers
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Here’s an opportunity to make my artwork Yours. Buy one, get one free before 31st August. The offer is part of the Affordable Art Project to make contemporary art more accessible
Now reduced to €159
Here’s an opportunity to make my artwork Yours. Buy one, get one free before 31st August. The offer is part of the Affordable Art Project to make contemporary art more accessible
Now reduced to €159
During Proctor’s national service he learnt Russian. Polish Pilots (1960), Study (1958) & Antiques Room (1958) show his initial style which was influenced by his teachers. Later his work would become delicate & more sensual
Later he worked for the British Council as a Russian interpreter. He was accepted to the Slade in 1958 & influenced by Coldstream & Keith Vaughan. He worked as an art therapist. Three Figures (1962), Standing Nude (1962) & Figures at Night (1962)
In 1962 he became a full time artist & had his first exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in 1963. Figures (1963), Figure (1963), Seated Figure (1962) & Head of John the Baptist (1964) show an interest in expressionism
He became a popular choice to illustrate the records of the Swinging Sixties. Mick Jagger (1966), Figures (1965). His exciting colourful ethereal watercolours captured the spirit of the age
In 1964 he was one of the New Generation in the Whitechapel Gallery, together with Hockney, Riley & Hoyland. He was fascinated with the male figure in watercolour, particularly in the late 60s. Such images shocked conservatives & were more direct than Hockney’s at the time
Proctors milieu included Joe Orton, Derek Jarman, Francis Bacon & Cecil Beaton & he was involved in gay cultural life. Derek Jarman (1967), Young Man (1966), Leather Boy (1966) & Boy (1967) all show his humour & sense of fun at a time when being gay was decriminalised in England
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1965 saw him take up a teaching residency at Iowa State University & then met up with Hockney for a road trip after that. Pure Romance (c1968), Andrew (1967) & Gervase (1968). Gervase was his muse & obsession
In 1973 he married Kirsten Benson & had a son with her. She sold her restaurant to Langan & Proctor, Hockney, Bacon & Freud helped decorate the walls. Lamp & Pines (1975), Two Diners on Desert (c1976) & Victoria Falls (1974). Regents Park (1973) is a delicate landscape
A series of groovy portraits of Jimi Hendrix (1973) followed & sought to capture his vibe. The early 70s were a time of excitement for liberation & travel
In NY he spent an evening taking drugs with muse Gervase Griffiths & this informed some hallucinatory art. He felt that Gervase was the most beautiful man he had ever seen & painted him often
In the 70s he travelled widely to Morocco, Egypt & China & was commercially successful. Nasturtiums (1980), Portrait (1970) & Gervase (c1968) & Marcus (1971)
He was interested in print making & produced a 1976 edition for the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. His approach was to use the gay bath-house culture of the time to inform his prints. The influence created unique images.
Elton John used his ‘The Guardian Readers’ for his 1976 album, Blue Moves. Charles Newington (1976), Dominic (1981), Guardian Readers & Nicol Williamson (1977). His genius was to take the conservative English art of watercolour & liberate it to suggest character & place
1984 saw him commissioned to paint a reredos for Chichester Cathedral. St John was modelled by his friend, David Gwinnutt. Denise Moslier (1986), Keran (1988), Lion Rocks (1980) & Portrait (1983)
The Royal Academy elected him a member in 1996. Darren (1988), Copt (1999), Kirsten (1989) & Self-portrait (1986)
Proctor’s last years saw him decline into alcoholism & bouts of homelessness & incarceration. Aswan (1985), Venice (1975), Montreal Mural (1967). Despite this he continued to create work that is redolent of the period.
His work is in collections such as LACMA, the Met, MOMA & various UK galleries. His final images were mostly flowerpieces & still lives. Proctor’s work is not generally appreciated & deserves greater attention given his importance as a painter & his historical relevance
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