Ernest Proctor

Ernest was one of two sons of Henry Richardson Proctor, one-time Professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Leeds. Born in Northumberland, Ernest Procter studied with Stanhope Forbes at Newlyn, and afterwards at the Atelier Colarossi in Paris. Whilst in Newlyn, he met the painter Dod Shaw, and they married in 1912. They exhibited together at the Fine Art Society in 1913, as well as at the Leicester Galleries. He served in France with the Gloucester Regiment during the First World War. In 1920, he and Dod Procter spent a year in Burma, where they helped to decorate the Kokine Palace in Rangoon. Ernest exhibited with the International Society from 1916, and became a member in 1925. He was made a member of the New English Art Club in 1929, and in 1932 became an Associate of the Royal Academy, where he had exhibited since 1921. He specialised in decorative and allegorical compositions, and helped to decorate two churches in Cornwall. His experiments with glazed and illuminated decorations were exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in 1931. He was Director of Studies in Design and Craft at the Glasgow School of Art between 1934 and 1935.The Procters lived mainly in Newlyn, but Ernest died at North Shields. His memorial exhibition was held at the Leicester Galleries and the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle in 1936.