Rollande

Prudence Heward was a Canadian figure painter, known for acidic colors, sculptural treatments, and an intensely brooding subjects. Her paintings of strong, independent models offer a new interpretation of Canadian women in the 1920s. Rollande’s thoughtful expression and no-nonsense posture, with hands on her hips and one leg thrust forward, shows she is completely in control of her environment. Her placement outside the fence is deliberate, emphasizing her independence and strength. In this work, a young woman stands in front of a fence, wearing an acid-pink apron—the intense color sets the subject apart from her subdued surroundings. The fence also serves as a barrier between Rollande and the farm behind her, suggesting that this daughter of farmers is symbolically turning her back on her past.

Heward often painted women in rural settings. She enjoyed painting and sketching landscapes around Fernbank, where her family had a cottage, as well as areas of rural Quebec. which she incorporated into many of her portraits of women. 

P.S. Another exceptional Canadian painter was Emily Carr; read here about her - back then revolutionary - environment-related art.