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Patrick Procktor: Art and Life

This book and curated exhibition at Huddersfield Art Gallery (2012) together constitute the first biography, first major monograph, and first posthumous major survey of the work of Patrick Procktor (1936–2003). Documenting one of the least researched British artists of the 1960s, the book investigates the stylistic development of his essentially autobiographical work within a biographical narrative framework. The book also examines the ways in which Procktor’s homosexuality and dandyist theatricality informed his work whilst conversely becoming factors in his critical marginalisation. Key strands within my examination relate to the artist’s personality and sexuality within the socio-political context of his times. The research provides a unique contribution to knowledge by its provision of new insights on the London art world of the period, and of the inter-personal relationships of key figures. Largely based on primary research, the book includes an extensive amount of new material. Research methods involved conducting over 50 interviews which include David Hockney, Celia Birtwell, Christopher Gibbs, John Hoyland and Lord Snowdon among others. These were crucial in developing the book’s content. The book has been reviewed in national and international media including The Art Newspaper, Times Literary Supplement, and The Spectator. Radio broadcasts include BBC Radio Manchester, and I gave lectures on Procktor at Manchester City Library, The Royal Watercolour Society, London, and The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.

This is the first comprehensive publication on Patrick Procktor. Authorised by the artist’s estate, it is based on over fifty original interviews (resulting in over 70,000 words of transcripts), email correspondence (correspondents in the UK, America, Italy, Germany, Holland and Denmark), and archival research in the UK (Tate; Whitechapel Gallery; British Library); Galleria Ghelfi, Vicenza; Galleria del Cavallino, Venice; and Galerie Biedermann, Munich. Its 224 pages include 56,000 words of text, extensive notes and 219 illustrations