Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (1920-1999)

In March 1963, following his move to England four years earlier, Boyd commenced work on his second series of ceramic paintings in preparation for his October 1963 exhibition at Zwemmer Galleries, London. Like his first ceramic paintings of 1949-1952, these works re-interpreted the iconography and motifs of earlier paintings as well as those produced in the intervening years; the Bride Series (1957-1959), and the Mythological Paintings (1960-62).

Philipp notes that '[Boyd's] turn towards a medium which has had little appeal for contemporary painters, a medium essentially intimate and delicate, is not fortuitous: one need only look at some of the ceramic paintings of 1963 such as Figure Wading (Bride walking in a Creek) (cat. 12.20) or the Sleeping Figure (cat. 12.36) to become aware of the pastel-like character of the colour, the chalky and fattish sensation of the pigment. In the handling of both media a 'filler' is used; in both, forms and ground appear suffused with light; in both the rhythm of application is more even and decorative than the turbulent movement of the brush in the 1960-62 paintings.' (F. Philipp, Arthur Boyd, London, 1967, p.127)