The black shawl

Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1890–1978) was a British-born etcher and painter best known for his enigmatic portraits of dramatically lit women set against Renaissance inspired landscapes; executed in a highly technical style and a formal pose which later came to be associated with Annigoni.

Enrolling at the Birmingham School of Art in 1901, Brockhurst went on to win a place at the Royal Academy Schools in 1907, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for Drawing, as well as travelling scholarships to France and Italy. His exposure to Quattrocento Italian art was particularly influential on his own signature style. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1937, before relocating to the US in 1939, becoming an American citizen in 1949.

The women in Brockhurst’s life were incredibly influential as his muses. His first wife Anaïs (m. 1911) was a Frenchwoman whose distinctive features provided the inspiration for many of his early portraits such as La Tresse (1926) (Te Papa 1952-0003-14). He met his second wife Dorette Woodward when she began modelling for him in the 1930s. The sixteen year old quickly became his new muse and mistress; Brockhurst celebrating her alluring qualities and disposition in works such as Dorette (1932) (Te Papa 1964-0001-10).

By the 1920s, Brockhurst had established himself as a printmaker of outstanding calibre. His originality in style and devotion to his female subjects set him apart in an increasingly saturated print market. During the 1920s, Brockhurst’s most lucrative and productive mode of creation was his etched portraits, of which he would often repeat in pencil and oil. By 1930 he had turned primarily towards portrait painting, a financially wise decision, saving him from the post-depression collapse in print sales, which affected many others. Brockhurst was so well received as a portrait painter he would often charge up to 1000 guineas for his commissioned portraits; famous sitters of his included the Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, Merle Oberon and J. Paul Getty.

Brockhurst’s legacy lies in his incredible ability to create captivatingly pensive, yet enigmatic and sultry portraits of his sitters. Eye-catching and Italian in their pose, his portraits were hyper realistic and highly detailed. But he was so concerned with formal elements that they had strangely little human expression within them. However, as the subjects confront us with their gaze, unexpected, indeed smouldering psychological intensity ensues.

The only painting to date by Brockhurst in Te Papa’s collection, The black shawl is a striking portrait of an unknown young woman against a mountainous landscape. The shawl is wrapped around her head, on top of a flowered calico fabric which surrounds her neck, leaving only her face exposed. The painting makes clear reference to the Quattrocento tradition of painting figures set against spare landscapes and sky – modern painting meeting the Italian Old Masters.

Like his other female portraits, Brockhurst’s The black shawl is painted in a highly refined style that gives his subject an elegant yet slightly haunting air, part of the larger return to classical realism and depictions of the human figure in the interwar years. It was likely painted in the early 1930s (certainly before 1934), the high point of Brockhurst’s painting career.

In 1934 The black shawl travelled to New Zealand as part of an exhibition organised by The Empire Art Loan Collections Society. The society was formed in London in 1931 by Sir Percy Sargood, then President of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery society, with the aim of sending artwork from renowned British galleries and private collectors to be seen across the countries of the British Empire.

This painting was part of the first exhibition organised by the society, touring to Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland and Wanganui (Te Papa’s predecessor – the National Art Gallery was still being built in Wellington at the time, hence the exhibition did not travel here). The exhibition was extremely popular, representing "nearly every artist of importance in England" (as reported in The Press, 24 March 1934, p 14), including Augustus John, J. M. Whistler and John Copley. A catalogue from the exhibition can be found here: http://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/media/uploads/2012_05/EmpireLoanExhibition1934.pdf

Due to his fame in Britain, Brockhurst was well-known in New Zealand at the time, with the local press often reporting on his work and exploits (for instance, on 30 June 1939 the Auckland Star printed a photograph of him entitled Famous British Artist Paints Famous American Woman (the Duchess of Windsor)). The Empire Art Loan Collection exhibition was a rare chance for New Zealand audiences to see his work in person. Brockhurst’s The black shawl was the only oil painting by the artist included in the show, alongside five of his etchings and a drawing.

Sources:

Anne L. Goodchild, ‘Brockhurst, Gerald Leslie’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/58743, accessed 26 January 2018.

The Fine Art Society: http://thefineartsociety.com/artists/65-gerald-leslie-brockhurst/overview/

Dr Chelsea Nichols, Curator Modern Art 

Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art          February 2018