SOLD
Gerald Lobb Moira:
Procession, mid-1930s
Framed (ref: 527)
Signed
Oil on canvas, 29 7/8 x 39 3/4 in. (76 x 101 cm.)
Tags: Gerald Lobb Moira oil
Provenance: private collection since 1970
This scene is likely to have been painted in Spain, where Moira (who was of
Portuguese
parentage) travelled extensively. During Holy Week and on other saints’
days it was common practice to carry wooden figures of the Virgin while
on Holy Processions, often on small pilgrimages between villages. The
girls in white are novitiates and are depicted here as young and
frivolous before taking their vows of chastity, humour being added to
the scene as their white habits are buffeted by the wind.
Compositionally the painting is typical of Moira’s decorative approach,
with a dynamic procession in the foreground, set against a flat and
stylised landscape in the background (cf. The Cornish Floral Dance,
repr. Harold Watkins, The Art of Gerald Moira, London 1922, plate 21).
We are grateful to Michael Barker and Magdeline Evans for assistance.