Pat Douthwaite

Pat Douthwaite (28 July 1934 – 26 July 2002) was a Scottish artist.[1][2] She has been notably compared to Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine, the peintres maudits of early twentieth-century Paris.[3]

Pat Douthwaite
Born(1934-07-28)28 July 1934
Glasgow, Scotland
Died26 July 2002(2002-07-26) (aged 67)
Dundee, Scotland
NationalityScottish
EducationSelf-taught
Known forPainting, Contemporary Art
MovementModernism
SpousePaul Hogarth

Life

Douthwaite was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to mother Winifred Rachael, and father Thomas Leslie Douthwaite.[4] She spent her early life in Paisley. She travelled widely, living in various places across the world until her death in Dundee, in 2002. Although she was born in 1934, she claimed throughout her life to have been born in 1939.[4]

In 1947, Douthwaite took up expressive dance and ballet classes, only making the decision to be a painter later in her life, and without any formal art education. Her work is featured in several different museums.[5] She was married to Paul Hogarth between 1963-1970, and they had one son together.[6]

Douthwaite's extensive travel during her life saw her living in York, Edinburgh, Dumfriesshire, and Berwick upon Tweed. In addition, she travelled to North Africa, India and Peru.[2]

Dance career

Douthwaite took up dance classes in 1947, which were taught by Margaret Morris. It was there that she met the artist J.D. Fergusson, Morris' partner.[6] Fergusson was a landscape artist and taught Douthwaite how to appreciate the light interacting with a landscape. She continued to dance and was a part of Morris's Celtic Ballet in 1954 at Jacob's Pillow Theatre in Massachusetts U.S.A.[5]

Art career

In the late 1950s, Douthwaite made the decision to take up a career in visual art, rather than dance, with Fergusson persuading her not to engage in formal art education.[6] She had her first solo show at 57 Gallery in Edinburgh in 1958.[7] She left Scotland in 1958, and associated herself with a wide artistic crowd which included Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun, Peter Cook, Roger Law, and William Crozier, the latter of whom she had met in Glasgow. She moved into Crozier's house in Essex in 1958, however the extent of her relationship with many other of these artists is not clear.[8]

In December 1963 Douthwaite exhibited alongside the artists Philip Jones and Bill Featherstone at the Grabowski Gallery in London.[9] A review of the exhibition by Kenneth Coutts-Smith appeared in Arts Review, where he remarked on her enigmatic, dreamlike and disturbing work which he felt had 'an almost embroidered applique effect'.[9]

Douthwaite exhibited with the Women's International Art Club in London between 1960 and 1966.[10]

Although much of her work explores issues surrounding femininity and womanhood, Douthwaite did not self identify as a feminist.[6] She was the recipient of various awards from the Scottish Arts Council. In 2005, following her death, the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh held a memorial exhibition.[6]

Douthwaite's work pursued a variety of themes including the Manson Trial, American Women Bandits and the aviator Amy Johnson.[7]

Exhibitions of work
The Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, where Douthwaite held a solo exhibition in 1993.

In 1967, Richard Demarco saw Pat Douthwaite as a talented Scottish artist and displayed her Mary Queen of Scots in his Edinburgh gallery. In 1967 he debuted her Love Pictures. In 1972-79 her Paintings and Drawings were shown at the Talbot Rice Art Centre and then in 1982 Worshipped Women was introduced by Robert Graves at the Edinburgh Festival. Other notable supporters included Douglas Hall and Guy Peploe.[6] In London, 1982-83 Douthwaite exhibited in the Royal College of Art and in the Third Eye Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, 1999-89. She had a solo exhibition in 1993 at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh of her more recent and final works.[11] The Scottish Gallery held a memorial show in 2005 with an extensive catalogue.[7]

Galleries holding Douthwaite's work

Aberdeen Art Gallery, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull and the Scottish Arts Council.[7]

Personal reputation

Douthwaite had a reputation as a "compelling" painter,[23] but also as difficult, and insecure.[2] She is described by Cordelia Oliver as having felt increasingly "alienated" throughout her life, and hard to please.[24]

References
  1. "Pat Douthwaite, artist". The Scotsman. 6 August 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  2. "Douthwaite, Patricia Morgan Graham". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  3. "Pat Douthwaite: An Uncompromising Vision: 23 Oct 2012 – 3 Feb 2013 - Exhibitions - What to see - Art Fund". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  4. "Patricia Douthwaite". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/77051. Retrieved 5 March 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/77051. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. Modern Scottish Women: Painters & Sculptors 1885-1965. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland. 2015. p. 44. ISBN 9781906270896.
  7. Buckman, David. (2006). Artists in Britain since 1945 (New and enl. ed.). Bristol: Art Dictionaries Ltd. p. 431. ISBN 9780953260959. OCLC 77011785.
  8. "Oxford DNB article: Douthwaite, Patricia Morgan Graham". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/77051. Retrieved 5 March 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. Coutts-Smith, Kenneth, 'Pat Douthwaite, Philip Jones, Bill Featherstone', exhibition review in Arts Review, Vol. 15, Issue 24, 14 December 1963, p. 8.
  10. Costello, Doreen (1981). List of women artists exhibiting with the Womens International Art Club, 1900–1966. List held at the National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Records accessed 20/05/19.
  11. "Pat Douthwaite - Obituaries - Scotsman.com". Archived from the original on 7 July 2012.
  12. "Art UK, Pat Douthwaite, 'Zoom Bird and Bees (recto)' - Art in Healthcare. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  13. "Art UK. Pat Douthwaite, 'Buzzing Stinking Grass' - University of St Andrews. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  14. "Art UK. Pat Douthwaite, 'The Bridegroom', Lillie Art Gallery. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  15. "Art UK. 'Belle Starr (1848–1889)'. Ferens Art Gallery. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  16. "Art UK. Pat Douthwaite. 'Final Instructions before Take-Off'. City Art Centre. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  17. "Art UK. 'The End of the World'. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  18. "Art UK. 'Portrait of Myself with Malthy'. Paisley Museum and Art Galleries. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  19. "Art UK. 'The Red Coat'. The Fleming Collection. Retrieved 29 May 2019". Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  20. "Art UK. 'Gwen John in Paris'. The Hepworth, Wakefield. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  21. "Art UK. 'Woman in Fun Fur'. University of Stirling. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  22. "Art UK. 'The Queen of Heaven (Inanna)'. The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum. Retrieved 29 May 2019".
  23. Coia, Emilio (August 1969). "Scottish Field". Pat Douthwaite: Painter.
  24. "Pat Douthwaite Artist whose work was always alive and who was entranced by iconic female figures". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
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