Marcus and a pink

This is one of a series of prints by British artists which were sold by Observer Art in the early 1970s. The National Art Gallery acquired three of the prints in 1972: Bash by Edouardo Paolozzi, French Shop by David Hockney, and this print by Patrick Procktor. The prints were advertised for sale in the Observer newspaper.

The child in this print is Marcus Benson, Procktor's step-nephew. Procktor used the same subject for a 1971 watercolour, Untitled (a young artist). An article published in the Observer Magazine quoted Procktor: 'This boy had never painted an object from nature before; the whole idea of seeing him concentrating and his visual impression, was exciting'.

Reference: Tessa Sidey, Patrick Procktor: Prints 1959-1985, The Redfern Gallery and Editions Alecto, 1985 (cat. no. 26)