Prudence Heward in 5 Paintings: Portraying the Modern Canadian Woman

Women that Prudence Heward knew often became the sitters for her portraits. Rollande, one of Heward’s figurative paintings of a girl, was purchased by the National Gallery of Canada in 1930 at the peak of her art career. She also contributed her time to shaping a unique Canadian art scene that differed from Europe and America. For example, she co-founded the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933 among many other initiatives. Heward was a member of the Beaver Hall Group founded in Montreal in 1920 as a counterpart to the Group of Seven. Unlike the Group of Seven, the Beaver Hall Group welcomed both men and women artists and produced figurative works.

Prudence Heward was known for rich colors and full forms in her figurative paintings. The following five paintings are all “figures” which was Heward’s preferred term over “portraits.”

1. At the Theatre, 1928

Even though the figures are in a public setting, the moment captured in At the Theatre feels intimate and quiet. We see the back of the two women sitting inside a theater before a show begins. A cultural outing with only female companions in the 1920s shows growing independence among women after World War I. The proximity between the subjects and the painter’s assumed position, the seat right behind them, suggests Heward was most likely a part of the theatre experience with them. In fact, the two women in the foreground are sisters of Sarah Robertson—Heward’s close friend and fellow artist—Marion and Elizabeth Robertson.

The amount of detail put into the sisters in the foreground is in stark contrast with highly simplified figures in the background, which might imply the close relationship Heward had with the Robertson sisters. The sole focus of the painting is on the presence and belonging of modern women who enjoy art in public.

2. Rollande, 1929

Rollande is one of Heward’s many “figures” in rural areas. The girl in the bright pink apron posing right in front of the fence looks annoyed and apathetic. Far in the background, there are featureless farm buildings. What stands out from the painting is Rollande’s demeanor. Both of her arms are at her waist, which pull down her apron showing the black dress underneath. In addition, her right knee is slightly bent to her right side creating a comfortable yet defiant pose. Her gaze that stares out beyond the foreground seems unfocused, she is mentally distant from the farm behind her. This depiction hints at what might have been going on in her life at the time as a young woman in the volatile times after WWI.

This particular piece garnered a lot of attention and acclaim when it was shown in February 1930 at the Fifth Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, and later the portrait toured different parts of the world.

3. Girl Under a Tree, 1931

Painted in early 1931, Girl Under a Tree transformed the existing norms of female nudes in the early 20th century. The reclining nude was often for the eyes of men, and this is the opposite of the female nude usually depicted in art history. Also, it was Heward’s first significant nude. The way she depicted the woman’s nude body is almost sculptural, reminding viewers of David by Michelangelo; the fierce, unapologetic presence of the subject exudes from the expression of muscle tone and confident posture.

The Cubist influence from her frequent trips to Europe is evident in the background. The choice of the open and public setting for this seemingly private figure painting is bold move and a defining feature of the piece. The woman is alone and at peace with herself; it’s almost a visual ode to herself. Girl Under a Tree resembles the nude photo shoots in which some people participate to celebrate their bodies as they are without shame.

4. Girl in the Window, 1941

Heward had painted many Black girls and women in her career, but Girl in the Window is surprisingly the only one in which a Black subject is depicted in a private indoor setting (in most of her Black female portraits, the backgrounds are outdoors, full of lush greens). The model is looking out the window while resting her head on her left hand. Her facial expression has hints of indifference and contemplation. The undone cardigan partially reveals her breasts.

Black women in Heward’s paintings are often naked or barely clothed. The lack of garments on a model implies the vulnerability of the sitter. The interpretations of the artist’s decision to present her sitters this way can be narrowed down to one of two reasons: to emphasize the definite power imbalance between a white female artist and Black female subjects or to sympathize with the financial and societal struggles they experienced during the 1930s and 1940s. As Michelle Jacques writes in Uninvited, art historians should not ignore the fact that Afro-Caribbean heritage immigrants, with possibly Roman Catholic religious backgrounds, would not have been comfortable being exposed in front of a stranger no matter the circumstance. Despite the many readings of the painting, Girl in the Window focuses on the woman’s internal thoughts and emotions in the private space rather than the semi-nudity of the model.

5. Farmer’s Daughter, 1945

By 1945, Heward’s health was declining which affected her art practice until she passed away in 1947. This painting was one of the last works she created. Heward used a rural background which is significantly simplified compared to her earlier portraits. Another painting of the same title was created in 1938 and shares similarity in the composition, but with a much more detailed and clearer view of the farm behind the subject. In the 1945 painting, the woman, with her painted nails and red lipstick, seems influenced by urban life.

In Prudence Heward: Life & Work, Julia Skelly compares the two sitters, possibly daughters from the same family. The older daughter with the cross-armed pose seems determined and confident in herself, the visible black outline around the figure separates her from the loosely painted rural background. The younger daughter, on the other hand, looks discontented and defiant with slightly pouted lips. Each painting represents a different stage of life, a different emotional situation and possibly a different approach to rural life. The light brushstrokes and rough finishing, unusual for Heward, visible in the 1945 Farmer’s Daughter may have been a sign of artist’s worsening health.

Heward’s life was cut short at the age of 51 due to her chronic asthma. Her contribution to Canadian art history has recently begun to receive well-deserved recognition and her works have been featured in significant exhibitions such as Uninvited at the National Gallery of Canada in 2023. Her contemplative “figures” seem to be more relatable to contemporary society in their celebration of the complexity and individuality of a person, especially women, now more than ever. When viewers stand in front of Heward’s “figures,” they might be comforted by familiar emotions of real-life struggles that we all experience as humans.