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“Portrait of a Woman” by Phyllis Purser (British) – Oil on canvas / c. 1960–1980 – Williamson Art Gallery & Museum (Birkenhead, England) #WomenInArt #PhyllisPurser #WilliamsonArtGallery #art #artText #arte #WomensArt #Purser #BritishArt #WomenArtists #BlackPortraiture #PortraitofaWoman #WomanArtist
Against a rose-red background, an unidentified Black woman with dark eyes looks past us to our left. Thick black hair rises high above her forehead, framing a face modeled in deep browns, grey-greens, and pale highlights. A small gold-colored earring is visible. Her lips are closed, her expression steady and serious. Without a recognizable setting, the painting keeps our attention on her. A white sleeveless top contrasts with her skin, while a multicolored cloth with purple, plum, moss green, cream, and pale pink in broad, visible brushstrokes drapes from her right shoulder across her torso. The woman’s eyes, nose, and mouth are handled with considerably greater precision than the loosely sketched fabric. Even the background varies in tone, moving from darker mauve on the left to a lighter dusty pink on the right. This contrast gives the portrait its energy. British artist Phyllis Miriam Purser (née Palmer) was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and trained at Nottingham School of Art from 1911 to 1913. She worked chiefly as a commercial illustrator, becoming known for postcards, greeting cards, and cheerful illustrations of children. After marrying Jack Purser in 1917, she lived for a time in Paris, then returned to England in 1921 and settled in Hoylake on the Wirral. Her designs were published by firms including Vivian Mansell and J. Salmon. Later in life she devoted more attention to painting and exhibited with the Society of Women Artists in 1973. Unlike the playful subjects for which she was widely known, this painting offers an encounter with a woman whose composed gaze dominates the canvas. Acquired by the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum as a gift in 2006, it preserves an image of a dignafied Black person without pretending to recover a biography that the record does not supply.
October 30, 2026 at 8:54 PM