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In this drawing Lambert created a tender and sympathetic view of Thea Proctor, presenting her with her head tilted to one side and soft, downward-looking eyes, suggesting a degree of vulnerability. He modelled her features lightly in contrast to his bold drawing of her hair and collar. He suggested her interest in costume in his detailed delineation of her bodice. He used the dark, richly textured charcoal to give a softness to the flesh and clothing. In doing so he created a personal, intimate portrait.
Lambert would appear to have given this drawing to Proctor, and she in turn to her niece Thea Waddell, who presented it to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
In 1905 Lambert painted a full-length image of a tall, elegant woman accompanied by a greyhound, walking across a moor. Proctor was the model for this figure, and the painting was titled Alethea , Thea Proctor’s real first name. It was a variation on Charles Furse’s Diana of the Uplands 1903–04 (Tate, London), which Lambert would have seen when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1904. Lambert would have made this drawing at about the same time.
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