PATRICK PROCKTOR RA (1936 - 2003)Lion rocks garden, 'Soochow, 1980'Hand coloured aquatint, 60 x 45cmWith blind stamp, 48/75Patrick Procktor was born in Dublin in 1936, but following the death of his father he moved to London with his mother and elder brother in 1940. He was conscripted as a Russian-language student by the Royal Navy in 1954, and acted as a translator for the British Council. After leaving the navy in 1956, Procktor began his studies at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1958 and graduated in 1962. While he initially worked in the medium of paint, from 1967 onwards he became increasingly interested in watercolour. He travelled extensively, visiting India in 1970, and then made further trips to Morocco and Egypt. A particularly important journey for Procktor’s artistic output took place in 1980, when he visited China. He was the first European artist to visit the country following the Cultural Revolution and made numerous works documenting the landscape. Procktor produced a number of watercolours which were made into etchings and aquatints. This work of Soochow (Sūzhōu) is one of eight prints that from The China Series portfolio, which also includes views of Beijing, Guilin and Hangzhou. A complete set of the series is held in the Government Art Collection and hangs in the British Embassy in Beijing.This example depicts the famous Lion Grove Garden, which was built in 1342 during the Yuan Dynasty. Its name derives from the lion-shaped taihu rocks which were constructed as a symbolic reference to the early Buddhist text, Lion’s Roar Sutra. Procktor uses subtle variations in colour tones to cast shadows which reflect the pagoda and stone bridge in the water surface below. The porous texture of the rock’s surfaces are brilliantly evoked through the stark contrast of white and black washes. The whole scene is bathed in a warm yellow glow of early evening.