Saturday 17 December 2022

Scandalous

Pauline Boty with her Scandal '63; the year it was last seen

Pauline Boty was a co-founder of the British Pop Art movement in the 1960s and its only recognised female member. A peer of Peter Blake she starred with him in Ken Russell's acclaimed 1962 film Pop Goes the Easel*  highlighting the Pop Art pioneers of the day. Unlike Blake, however, her trajectory was both short-lived and deeply sad.


In June 1965 Boty fell pregnant and during a pre-natal exam was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour; she refused an abortion and chemotherapy. She died 1 July 1966 aged just 28. After her passing her work was stored away on her brother's farm where it remained for the best part of 30 years - before it was 'rediscovered' in the 1990s: some of her paintings (tho' not the elusive Scandal '63** - pictured top) formed part of a major exhibition and a solo retrospective. Her rebellious art was a shot in the arm to the prevailing feminist movement and it's nothing short of scandalous that her name is not better known today.


Pauline Boty (1938-1966)


* Here's a great clip to wet your whistle.
** A Guardian piece from 2013 about Boty's lost art and speculation as to where Scandal '63 now resides.

5 comments:

  1. Lovely to see Pauline Boty featured here. I've been interested in her and her work for a little while but, yes, she's one of those people who still not many have heard of, unlike her male contemporaries. Great that you're doing something to address that!

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    1. I thought you'd know her, C. It's a hellava story. Art aside, her baby daughter was born alive but sadly took her own life at the age of 29.

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  2. I read a long article about Pauline Bothy several years ago, maybe the one in the Guardian you link to and have been interested in her and her art ever since. Good stuff John.

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    1. People who fly below the radar are always more interesting aren't they?

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  3. Thanks for showcasing her as I had never heard of her before. What a tragic story however on many levels. Sounds as if she was way ahead of her time. A beautiful and talented lady taken too soon.

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