Bologna Rediscoveres Forgotten British Painter Patrick Procktor

A forgotten British painter, Patrick Procktor (1936–2003), is being rediscovered in Bologna after half a century. The city hosted a solo exhibition of his work in 1972, and now a new show at Palazzo Bentivoglio revisits his oeuvre. Curator Tommaso Pasquali describes Procktor as a contradictory and flamboyant personality: a Marxist and a snob, openly gay and a family man, a traveler to exotic places and a frequent visitor to Venice. The exhibition includes works from the 1972 show and new pieces from collectors and galleries who have supported the artist since the 1960s. Procktor worked primarily in watercolor but also painted on canvas, always pursuing figuration. Highlights include portraits of Swinging London figures like Cecil Beaton, with a focus including two Picasso vases, and delicate Venetian views. In his canvases, Procktor shows a preference for Filippo De Pisis, whose works he saw in Vicenza. The exhibition aims to reassess Procktor's place in 20th-century European art.