At the Theatre depicts two young women in a public place unaccompanied by men, reflecting their growing independence in the 1920s. They are actively looking but are also objects of the viewer’s gaze, exposing their bare necks, backs, and arms. The theatre is where men and women go to see and be seen.
Prudence Heward’s Modern Women
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Prudence Heward, At the Theatre, 1928
Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts