Exhibited:
"Mary Pratt: Aspects of a Ceremony", Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, 9-31 October, 1986
“Mary Pratt/Recent Paintings”, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, 13 November-2 December 1987 as “Barbi in the Dress She Made”
"Mary Pratt", The Rooms, St. John’s, travelling to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; Art Gallery of Windsor; the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario and the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, May 2013-August 2014 as “Barby in the Dress She Made Herself”

Literature:
Gerta Moray, "Mary Pratt", Toronto/Montreal, 1989, page 35, reproduced page 147
Tom Smart, "The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light", Fredericton, 1995, reproduced page 114
"ARTSatlantic", no. 54, Winter 1996, reproduced on cover
Alice Munro, "No Love Lost", Toronto, 2003, reproduced on cover
Mirielle Eagan, Sarah Fillmore and Caroline Stone, "Mary Pratt", Newfoundland and Labrador, 2016, reproduced page 87
Anne Koval, "Mary Pratt: A Love Affair with Vision", Fredericton, 2023, reproduced page 215

In 1986 Mary Pratt held her first thematic exhibition, "Aspects of a Ceremony", at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver, focusing on weddings and the female rite of passage. Pratt's two daughters, Anne and Barby, married that year. The paintings that the artist created to commemorate the occasions formed the basis of the exhibition. "Anne in My Garden" and "Barby in the Dress She Made Herself" both represent the pressures placed on young women seeking romantic love, while also celebrating this important milestone. Pratt undertook this project during an emotionally charged period, when family life and her ideas around marriage were changing.

Pratt was exploring the concept of marriage as a “safe harbour”, capturing a Pre-Raphelite romantic sensibility in the portrayal of Anne–a young woman depicted in a white dress in a dreamy, contemporary setting–while the painting of Barby depicts the humanity of the wedding rite. Gerta Moray explores this idea, stating, ""Barby in the Dress She Made Herself" (1986), for example, is the portrait of a bride in a pose familiar from informal eighteenth-century portraits. She is seated with her head and shoulders turning one way, her arms and legs the others, so as to show off her richly embroidered bodice." Moray likens the work to Francois Boucher’s "Madame de Pompadour". The brides assume the stereotypes of the past, while inhabiting both a sense of self-consciousness and ambivalence.

Pratt snapped a photograph of Barby seated in her studio as she gazed out at the Salmonier River on her wedding day. Pratt then aptly translated the photograph into a painting, solidifying the human presence. The distant expression on Barby’s face, combined with her clasped hands, ceremonial dress and conventional pose point to the psychological aspect of the wedding ceremony. Prior to the wedding, Pratt had travelled with her daughter to Toronto to find a dress. They did not meet with success and as the title of the work indicates, Barby made her wedding dress from purchased fabric. This intimate rendering of Barby at the age of twenty-one has an ethereal quality, infused with delicacy, warmth and soft light. The subtly of the portrayal is executed in the hallmarks of Pratt’s masterful hand. Mireille Eagan describes Mary Pratt’s art as “an illumination rather than an illustration, one in which ‘everyday life’ describes not just a reality close at hand but also aspects of life that lie hidden.”

When the "Aspects of a Ceremony" exhibition opened on October 9th, 1986, Pratt attended alone. Many fellow artists came to the opening, which Pratt described as a success, reflecting that “It made me feel light and unencumbered. I can’t easily explain the way I feel, unburdened would be accurate.” This was perhaps a revelatory moment for Pratt and marked a step forward in both her career and personal life.

Mary Frances Pratt was a renowned Canadian painter celebrated for her photo-realist still life paintings. Known for transforming everyday objects into vivid, emotionally resonant works, Pratt's art often centered on domestic scenes, evolving to include more complex subjects and darker undertones over time. Pratt's work primarily explored domestic life in rural Newfoundland, depicting common household items with a bold and realistic style achieved through photographic projections. She discovered her signature style in the late 1960s, focusing on the interplay of light in her compositions. Her series on Donna Meaney, her daughter Barbara, and paintings of fires expanded her subject matter, often revealing deeper, more personal themes. Pratt's work has been exhibited in major galleries across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Her first solo exhibition was at Memorial University Art Gallery in 1967. Her work gained national attention in 1975 through the National Gallery of Canada's exhibition "Some Canadian Women Artists." Notable solo exhibitions include "The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light" (1995) and "Mary Pratt" (2013-2015), which toured Canada.  Pratt was born to William J. West, a New Brunswick Minister of Justice, and Katherine E. MacMurray. She studied Fine Arts at Mount Allison University, where she met her first husband, artist Christopher Pratt. They moved to Newfoundland in 1963, where she continued to develop her artistic career while raising their five children. They divorced in 2005, and she later married and divorced American artist Jim Rosen. Pratt passed away at home in St. John's, Newfoundland, on August 14, 2018. Pratt was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 1996 and received the Molson Prize in 1997. She was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and received nine honorary degrees from various Canadian universities. In 2007, Canada Post issued stamps featuring her artwork as part of the "Art Canada" series. Pratt's ability to infuse mundane subjects with emotional depth and her unique exploration of light have left a lasting impact on Canadian art.