Sketchbook

c1965
Pencil, ink, crayon, chalk and wash drawings on paper
Purchased January 1979
DGA 62

Thea Proctor continued working up until her death in 1966. Writing to her friend and patron Jim McGregor that same year, she reported, ‘I am still able to do portraits at eighty-six and I am told by people whose opinions I respect that my latest portraits are my best’ [1].

One commission was by Barry Humphries for a portrait of his wife and daughter. Visiting Proctor at her flat in Double Bay in 1966, he recalled: ‘As she greeted us she stroked a large marmalade cat called Calico’ [2]. As evidenced in her sketchbooks, Calico was also one of Proctor’s favourite subjects.