PROVENANCE
The Douglas Duncan Estate
The Milne Study Collection
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Collection privée, Nouvelle-Écosse

BIBLIOGRAPHIE
David Milne Jr. et David P. Silcox, David B. Milne : Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Volume 1 : 1882 – 1928, 1998, reproduit page 19, catalogue #102.9

As noted specifically in the two-volume David Milne catalogue raisonné by David Milne Jr. and David Silcox, this work is the first known painting of the artist’s first wife, Frances May Hegarty, known as Patsy. Although never formally divorced, before the pair separated in 1933 Patsy sat for Milne often, particularly during the couple’s time living in Boston Corners. Patsy and her distinctive upswept hairstyle would become a centrally important motif, found in such 1914 works as Gay Fabric (sold by Heffel in November 2022), Black (McMichael Canadian Art Collection), The Bright Pillows (National Gallery of Canada) and The Blue Rocker (Art Gallery of Ontario).

At the time Milne painted The Navy Dress, he and Patsy were still unmarried and living in New York City. Milne had studied at the famed Art Students League and would visit the city’s many galleries, absorbing the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and contemporary modernist artworks on view. It was around the circa date of this painting that Milne, making his living as a commercial artist, began to commit himself to a life as an artist. Produced at a pivotal moment, this earliest known depiction of his future wife and key subject is an essential element to a more complete understanding of Milne’s life and work.

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