Gwen John
by Sue Roe
from Vintage
Her brother Augustus is better known today, but in the early decades of the 20th century Gwen John (1876-1939) was equally, if not more, respected as a painter (and not just as model and muse to her lover Rodin). Particularly in Paris, where she made her home, and in New York, where she was represented by pioneering art dealer John Quinn, she was acclaimed for the sureness of her technique and the haunting psychological penetration with which she captured the inner lives of her subjects. Drawing on her letters and journals, novelist and poet Sue Roe is able to chronicle the evolution of John's artistic, emotional, and spiritual strivings in fascinating detail. Rodin encouraged her work, but Roe perceptively notes that John's passionate desire to submit to the sculptor warred with her "profound sense of independence [and] need to access and control her own muse." She was sustained by a series of intimate friendships with other women (including her brother's wife and mistress), as well as a burgeoning Catholic faith. Far from being the eccentric recluse of posthumous legend, John exhibited and sold her work regularly and had an active social life. The stillness and harmony of her work, Roe convincingly argues, were the product of enormous self-discipline and restraint imposed on a turbulent psyche. This sensitive, sympathetic biography arouses our admiration and awe for a woman who "lived uniquely, with dedication and daring." --Wendy Smith
In 1942, at the height of his fame, Augustus John predicted that 'fifty years from now I shall be known as the brother of Gwen John'. Gwen John (1876-1939) is indeed now recognised as a great artistic innovator, yet for years her life remained shrouded in the myth of the solitary recluse. Born in Pembrokeshire, Gwen followed her brother to the Slade. Her future was bound up with Augustus, his women and his coteries, yet she was also daring and highly original, living determinedly in her own way.
Defiant yet shy, she painted and modelled amid the Bohemian circles of early twentieth-century Paris and embarked on a long, intense love affair with France's most legendary artistic figure, the sculptor Rodin. A friend of Symbolist poets and post-Impressionist painters, later she turned increasingly to religion, achieving a deep serenity which masked her inner turbulence and creating her haunting paintings, described as delicate and austere, restrained and still.
Based on her lively and passionate unpublished letters and lavishly illustrated, this vivid new biography challenges our prejudices about the ways we evaluate women artists and finally uncovers the life of this ardent and complicated personality, one of the finest artists of her day.
Defiant yet shy, she painted and modelled amid the Bohemian circles of early twentieth-century Paris and embarked on a long, intense love affair with France's most legendary artistic figure, the sculptor Rodin. A friend of Symbolist poets and post-Impressionist painters, later she turned increasingly to religion, achieving a deep serenity which masked her inner turbulence and creating her haunting paintings, described as delicate and austere, restrained and still.
Based on her lively and passionate unpublished letters and lavishly illustrated, this vivid new biography challenges our prejudices about the ways we evaluate women artists and finally uncovers the life of this ardent and complicated personality, one of the finest artists of her day.
Gwen John: Letters and Notebooks
by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan
from Tate
The artist Gwen John (1876-1939) led an exceptionally private life, dedicated to her painting, and died in relative obscurity, but since her death she has become an icon of women's art. Her writings, however, have never before been made public. This selection of letters and extracts from her notebooks, illustrated by photographs and sketches, is drawn from the artist's personal archive and provides an invaluable insight into the life and inspiration of one of the most intriguing figures in 20th-century art.
John did not write for publication, but writing, whether for herself or to friends and relatives, was an important medium of expression for her. Here she considers her own role as an artist, records visual impressions, and analyzes her own techniques and procedures. Her highly individual writing style and the range of emotions she displays, from great intensity to flashes of wicked humor, bring into view the unique character behind the painting. AUTHOR BIO: Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan is head of manuscripts at the National Library of Wales.
Gwen John
by Alicia Foster
from Princeton University Press
From London in the 1890s to Paris in the early twentieth century, Gwen John's career spanned some of the most exciting periods and places in cultural history. Demolishing the myth of Gwen John (1876-1939) as a recluse, this new survey explores the art world at the center of these cities and reveals the alliances and differences the artist had with her contemporaries. John's representation of the female nude, her paintings of interiors, and the effects of her Catholic faith on her work are all considered. The author also discusses the key relationship between John's position as a woman artist and her fascination with the portrayal of the female sitter.
Gwen John and Augustus John
by David Fraser Jenkins
from Tate
Augustus John (1878-1961) was one of the best-known and most colorful British artists of his generation, while his sister Gwen (1876-1939) led a reclusive life studying under Whistler in Paris. Since the 1960s, Gwen John's intense studies of female nudes and portraits have made her a feminist icon, and Augustus's work has fallen from fashion. This book, with more than 100 color illustrations, examines the sibling artists side by side for the first time. AUTHOR BIO: David Fraser Jenkins is a senior curator and Chris Stephens is a curator at Tate.
From Victorian to Modern: Laura Knight, Vanessa Bell, Gwen John 1890-1920
by Pamela Gerrish Nunn
from Philip Wilson Publishers
The book illuminates women’s participation in the important question of how British art negotiated the challenges posed by post-impressionism, abstraction, significant form and the demise of narrative and anecdote at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Gwen John papers at the National Library of Wales
English Drawing from Samuel Cooper to Gwen John
Gwen John, 1876-1939: Works from the collection of Edwin John
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