Pauline Boty was an outrageous, boundary-pushing and stylish pioneer of the British Pop Art movement. She was the type of woman who painted her shoes silver, danced with abandon and wore her sexuality proudly. She refused to conform to the idea that to be considered a serious female artist, she should do nothing other than quietly paint in a sexless smock. She acted in Michael Caine’s 1966 classic film, Alfie; she wrote poetry and performed on Sixties music show Ready Steady Go!; she could be chaotic, outspoken and sex-positive, but still produce original, politically incisive work.
And yet, there is a good chance you may never have heard of her. The first and only woman who worked within the Pop Art movement, Boty should be remembered in the same canon as her contemporaries, Peter Blake and David Hockney. As a female artist who died young at 28 years old, she has often been overlooked – until now.
Boty's work is finally undergoing a long overdue renaissance. The artist looks set to achieve the stardom and recognition she has always deserved through a new book, an exhibition and a documentary dedicated to her legacy.
"It didn’t occur to a lot of women at the time to live the way she did – as someone who was not only free in her interests and desires, but who also wasn’t afraid of contradicting herself," says author Marc Kristal, who wrote the new book Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister. "She didn’t see why the opposing sides of her personality couldn’t co-exist. She could be a fan and a feminist. She could be a serious artist and an actress. She could be a social commentator and a girl about town. She could be a great beauty and still be important and interesting for who she was as an individual. She was technicolour."
Author Ali Smith is another of Boty's many fans, and honoured her life and work in her Man Booker-nominated 2016 novel, Autumn. "All her work – I mean what little of it there is after a life far too short – gives off energy full not just of pure electric sensory vitality, but also social critique, wit, warmth of intelligence,” she wrote in a tribute to the artist published in Harper’s Bazaar in 2018.
Boty’s art sizzled with wit, wry humour and social commentary. Her practice was diverse, ranging from stained glass to irreverent paintings and collages of icons such as Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, as well as explorations of race riots in America and the Cuban missile crisis. She subverted expectations, painting men like sex symbols and giving her female subjects sexual freedom.
There are two facets of Boty’s story that are always talked about. The first is that she was beautiful, so gorgeous that her schoolmates dubbed her 'The Wimbledon Bardot' on account of the visual similarities she shared with the French star. The second is the terrible way in which she died. In 1965, Boty was a few months pregnant when she found out, during a routine check-up, that she had cancer. She refused treatment after medics told her it would require having an abortion. Boty chose to have the child instead, and died aged 28, only four months after the birth of her daughter. After her death, her work disappeared from public view until the early 1990s, when some of her pieces were unearthed at her brother’s farm in Kent.
Slowly but surely, Boty’s name began reappearing in art circles through various exhibitions, one of which was staged at Christie’s in 2013. It was here that Kristal stumbled across her work and decided her legacy was worthy of celebration. It took him eight years to convince a publisher to print his book, but he persisted. "Over the last 10 years, there has been more opportunity to see Boty’s work and when you do, you appreciate how talented she was," he says. "People knew about her legend, not her work. Part of her comeback is because people are finally able to access, and in turn appreciate, her art. Also, her story is very relevant – in some ways, the world hasn’t changed that much since she died in 1966. A woman who wants to do everything still has a fight on her hands. It still isn't easy to be someone like Boty."
Boty’s time is finally now. Since Gazelli Art House opened its solo exhibition about the artist last month, there is now a waitlist of collectors keen to buy her pieces. “We had first shown Boty's work in a group exhibition in 2019 and then in 2022, and each time, there was an overwhelming response to her work by those who were lucky to have met her, and those who were long-time admirers of hers," says Gazelli Art House founder Mila Askarova. "There seemed to be an urgency to put together a comprehensive exhibition of her work and illustrate once again how impactful she was as a figure in the Sixties during her very short life."
In February, the gallery will stage the premiere of Boty: The Life and Times of a Forgotten Artist, a documentary that goes beyond the common perception of Boty as a tragic talent gone too soon to explore her work and life in wider terms. Filmmaker Vinny Rawding has interviewed many of the artist’s friends and peers, including Sir Peter Blake and fashion designer Celia Birtwell, and is currently in talks with various media platforms to bring the documentary to a wider audience. "Pauline Boty would have almost certainly have gone on to be a colossus in the art world had she lived beyond 28," explains Rawding. "She was just getting started and I suppose we are all just catching up with her."
Pauline Boty: A Portrait is open now until 24 February at Gazelli Art House
