Teacher and student notes with key work cards
Gwen John
and Augustus John
Tate Britain, 29 September 2004 - 9 January 2005
Gwen John (1876-1939)
The Student 1903-4
Oil on canvas 56.1 x 33.1 cms. Manchester City Art Galleries.
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Gwen John and Augustus John
Introduction
These introductory notes are intended both for teachers and students from KS4 onwards. They contain
some background information about the artists and pinpoint central themes and ideas in the Gwen and
Augustus John exhibition. The key work cards that follow (which you could print out and laminate) focus
on individual paintings and include suggested discussion points, activities and links to other works, both
in the Tate collection and elsewhere. They can be used not only to support an exhibition visit, but also as
a classroom resource with a longer shelf-life.
Please note: further sets of key work cards are available for sale in Tate shops as part of the Tate Britain
and Tate Modern Teachers' Kits, or in themed packs (£9.99) which are currently available on Portraits
and Identity and Landscape and Environment. The set of key work cards focusing on portraits provides
the historical background to the theme. It would therefore be a useful extension to your study of these
two 20th century portraitists.
Make sure that you look at some of the historic portraits in the Collection displays while you are at Tate
Britain, as well as visiting the exhibition. This will help you measure the Johns' achievements in
dispensing with rank and status as prerequisites for portraiture.
Key themes of the exhibition
David Fraser Jenkins, curator of this exhibition, opens his catalogue essay by highlighting two aspects of
the artists, Gwen and Augustus John. Firstly he highlights the importance of the simple fact that they
were brother and sister and, according to Augustus, 'not opposites but much the same really, but we
took a different attitude'.
Next he explains that they felt themselves to be outsiders because they were Welsh, not English, and
there were not many Welsh artists at that time. Their defensive position was, according to Fraser
Jenkins, that they 'abhorred the whole notion of belonging to anything' and as a result they 'were simply
not part of the weave of British art'.
These defining characteristics should provide a way into the exhibition for students, many of whom have
siblings and some of whom, for whatever reason, feel themselves to be outsiders.
For discussion before and during your visit
- Why do artists make portraits, using paint, sculpture and photography? Is it simply to record
appearance, or can you think of other reasons? Look at press photos in newspapers as well as pictures
in art books to help you decide. Think about what you want to achieve when you compose a portrait.
- Consider what unites and separates you from your brothers and sisters whom you may sometimes feel
are your best friends, at other times your worst enemies. In the exhibition look out for similarities and
differences between the paintings of this brother and sister.
- Do you ever feel yourself to be an outsider? What are the strengths and disadvantages of this position?
Look at the work of Gwen and Augustus's contemporaries in rooms 17, 19, 20 and 23 of the Tate Britain
collection displays. Can you see what separates the Johns' work from that of artists like Harold Gilman,
William Rothenstein or Vanessa Bell? Are there similarities?
Gwen John and Augustus John
A brief outline of the artists' lives
Gwen was the older child, born in Haverford West in 1876 while Augustus was born in Tenby in 1878.
Their mother died when Gwen was eight and Augustus six, leaving them in the care of an
uncommunicative Welsh solicitor father who left them largely to their own devices. Both artists studied
at the Slade School of Art in London, then unusual in offering an equal education to both women and
men. Augustus stood out immediately from other students because of his skill in drawing which was the
basis of art school curriculum at that time, and a great future was predicted for him. In 1901 he married
Ida Nettleship, a fellow student and friend of Gwen's.
In 1903 Augustus and Gwen shared an exhibition at the Carfax Gallery in London. Augustus wrote to his
friend and fellow painter William Rothenstein saying: 'Gwen has the honours or should have ...The little
pictures to me are almost painfully charged with feeling'. John Rothenstein, son of William and later
director of the Tate Gallery, described Augustus peering 'fixedly, almost obsessively, at pictures by Gwen
as though he could discern in them his own temperament in reverse'. One of Augustus's endearing
qualities was that he could appreciate his sister's work to the extent of valuing it over and above his
own.
Augustus's household was complicated by the inclusion of his mistress as well as his wife. This was
Dorothy McNeill, discovered by Gwen and given the name Dorelia by the Johns. Also a close friend of
Ida, Dorelia like her bore Augustus's children. In 1907 Ida died from complications after the birth of her
fifth son and Dorelia filled her place as mother to all their children.
From 1907 until 1910 Augustus was praised as the outstanding young artist in London. That valuation
declined from about 1916, just as Gwen was coming into her own. Meanwhile from 1904 Gwen had
settled in Paris where she earned money by posing for artists. While modelling for sculptor Auguste
Rodin she fell in love with him, becoming his mistress. He was 64 and famous; she was 28 and virtually
unknown. According to Augustus, whereas she had been 'shy as a sheep' before she met Rodin, she
became 'amorous and proud' afterwards.
From 1911 until he died of cancer in 1924, an American patron, John Quinn, provided Gwen with a regular
income. (Quinn also collected works by Seurat, Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse). From January 1911 Gwen
rented three rooms in the top storey of a house in rue Terre Neuve in Meudon, about twenty kilometres
outside Paris. It was there that she turned to religion, attending church from 1913. She died in Dieppe
(nobody knows why she had gone there) in 1939 at the age of 63, shortly after the outbreak of the
second world war. Her nephew Edwin, who had visited her in Meudon, made sure that her paintings,
neglected by her for some years, were rescued from the outhouse where she had kept them.
Augustus lived on to be nearly 84 at the time he died in 1961. He had long since outlived his fame, was
drinking too much and was subject to moods of deep depression. Poor Augustus.
Using key work cards
One aim of this exhibition is to allow us to reassess the work of the two artists. The key work cards
present you with a number of contrasts and comparisons to help you identify some characteristics of
each artist's work. The first comparison is between the brother and sister's different ways of seeing
Dorelia as a Woman Smiling and as The Student. Next you could compare outdoors and indoors with
Augustus's Lyric Fantasy set in a landscape and Gwen's interior The Artist's Room in Paris. The third
comparison is between Gwen's two outstandingly frank portraits of model Fenella Lovell, clothed and
naked. And finally the contrast between Augustus's Joseph Hone and Gwen's The Nun invites you to
consider two very different ways of making a portrait. There are many other linked paintings in the
exhibition for you to compare. See how many pairings you can find.
For discussion
Do you prefer one of the artists to the other? Is is there one whose work you prefer, for personal reasons
perhaps?
Gwen John and Augustus John
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Woman Smiling 1908-9
Oil on canvas, 1960 x 982 mm
Tate. Presented by the Contemporary Art Society 1917
© copyright courtesy of the artist's estate / www.bridgeman.co.uk
Gwen John and Augustus John
'The vitality of this gypsy Gioconda is fierce, disquieting, emphatic.'
Roger Fry's reaction to Woman Smiling, published in The Burlington Magazine, May 1909.
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Woman Smiling 1908-9
Oil on canvas, 1960 x 982 mm
Tate. Presented by the Contemporary Art Society 1917
© copyright courtesy of the artist's estate / www.bridgeman.co.uk
Background
Can you imagine being taken aback, or perhaps
even shocked, by this portrait if you had seen it in
the exhibition of Fair Women in 1909? Probably not.
From today's standpoint it is even difficult to
conceive of an exhibition with such a sexist name
ever taking place. In that show contemporary
artworks like Woman Smiling were juxtaposed with
old master paintings so that viewers could contrast
the beauties of one age with those of another. By
describing her as a "gypsy Gioconda", art critic
Roger Fry was making a link between the sitter's
smile and the most famous of all portraits, Leonardo
da Vinci's Mona Lisa, otherwise known as La
Gioconda.
Traditionally, commissioned portraits tended to be of
people of rank or fortune. Part of the reason why the
painting surprised people so much was that Dorelia,
who posed for this portrait, had neither. She had
designed her own "gypsy" dress, encouraged in this
by Augustus who was fascinated by gypsies,
envying them their independent way of life. He had
learnt the English version of Romani to be able to
talk to them in their own language which he also
used to write love letters to Dorelia, obligingly
supplying her with word lists so that she would be
able to understand what he had written!
Augustus painted this portrait of Dorelia some years
after Gwen had depicted her in The Student. Notice
how much plumper she looks in Augustus's version.
He had told Dorelia 'Your fat excites me
enormously', whereas Gwen painted her at the end
of an a hundred and fifty mile walk during which
there had been no surplus of food to eat.
Fry described the effect of 'intense life' in Woman
Smiling and one of Augustus's great
accomplishments is his ability to make the sitter
come alive for us. He achieves a sense of vitality in
part through boldly applied brushstrokes. You will
have to go close - but not too close - to the painting
to observe this.
.
For discussion
There are at least twenty works in this
exhibition, drawings as well as paintings, by
Augustus of Dorelia. She posed frequently for
him not just because he loved her but because
she was very good at adapting herself to the
pose the artist wanted. How do you interpret
the different poses Augustus asked her to
adopt? What roles does she play other than
that of gypsy?
To put yourself in the position of viewers of this
painting when it was first exhibited, have a
look at some traditional portraits in the
collection displays, starting with the
supercilious Queen Elizabeth 1 c 1575 in room
2, attributed to Nicholas Hilliard. (You will have
to do this before or after entering the
exhibition).
Compare this portrait of Dorelia with Gwen's
The Student. What different aspects of her
personality have Gwen and Augustus
emphasised in their portrayals?
.
.
.
Activities
Augustus turned Dorelia into a gypsy to show
how special he thought she was. Imagine a
new role for your girl/boyfriend, or even
yourself, and sketch them/yourself in that
guise.
Links
Augustus was not the only artist to be
interested in gypsies. Compare his Caravan: a
Gypsy Encampment 1905 with Alfred
Munnings's Epsom Downs - City and
Suburban Day 1919 (visit
www.tate.org.uk/collection to see the
Munnings). Although the two pictures are
strikingly similar in their free brushwork,
Munnings is painting an exotic scene from
the outside whereas Augustus knew what
gypsy life was like through living in a caravan
with Dorelia.
Gwen John and Augustus John
Gwen John (1876-1939)
The Student 1903-4
Oil on canvas 56.1 x 33.1 cms. Manchester City Art Galleries.
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Gwen John and Augustus John
'She was extremely strange and hard ...always attracted to the wrong
people for their beauty alone. But her work was more important than
anyone.' Dorelia speaking about Gwen John after her death to Augustus's biographer, Michael Holroyd.
Gwen John (1876-1939)
The Student 1903-4
Oil on canvas 56.1 x 33.1 cms. Manchester City Art Galleries.
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Background
Augustus was not the only person to be attracted to
Dorelia. Gwen was too. For this reason, when the
two women set off together in 1903 to walk through
France to Rome their venture took on the flavour of
an elopement. In fact they got no further than
Toulouse but this in itself was no mean feat as by
then they had walked a hundred and fifty miles from
Bordeaux. They slept out of doors in barns, stealing
bread and fruit on the way and Gwen would draw
portraits in cafés in exchange for a meal.
Dorelia must have been glad when the walk ended
and all she was required to do was to model for her
portrait because her 'hard'friend had insisted she
carry her equipment on the walk so that Gwen's
artist hands would not be damaged! They rented a
cheap room in Toulouse for the winter of 1903-4 and
there Gwen painted four pictures of her companion.
Although this portrait might seem unassuming, like
Woman Smiling it breaks with a long tradition of
British portraiture in that it tells us nothing about the
sitter's rank or status in society. Dorelia's dress is
timeless, the background gives us no clue as to
where she is. It is evening and she stands out from
the dark background, alone and immersed in
thought.
The other important element in her portrayal is the
book held under her left arm and those which lie on
the table. Darkness is a time for reading and
contemplation. La Russie (the title of the wellthumbed book shown uppermost on the table)
evokes ideas of travel to far off lands. Many artists
including Vincent Van Gogh, and right up to the
present day, believe that reading books feeds and
stimulates their art. But art has its own language of
line, form and colour which Gwen John was to make
her own. In 1898 Gwen had attended American
artist J McNeill Whistler's art school in Paris. When
Whistler met Augustus in the Louvre, Augustus
asked him whether he agreed that Gwen was skilled
in capturing character. 'Character?' retorted
Whistler, who had taught Gwen the art of tonal
relationships, 'What's that? Your sister has a fine
sense of tone'. In this painting the mellow shades of
Dorelia's face together with the brighter white of the
pages of La Russie attract our attention first. But
then we may notice all the subtle gradations of cool
greys and warm browns that exist both in the room
and on the table.
.
For discussion
Augustus's presentation of Dorelia in Woman
Smiling is a painting of a relationship between
a man and a woman. What about The Student:
does it reveal anything about Gwen's feelings
for Dorelia?
Compare Dorelia's dress in this painting to the
one worn by Miss Chloe Boughton-Leigh
c.1907 (Tate) in the exhibition. Do you think
both models are wearing the same dress
which Gwen might have owned as a studio
prop and altered for each of them to wear?
(This is not a question for which there is a
known answer). One of Gwen's sitters said
that the artist tried to make her resemble
herself as much as possible before painting
her by choosing her pose and hairstyle.
Making her model wear her own dress would
have enhanced the similarities.
.
.
Activities
Gwen uses the books in this painting to
envelope her sitter in a particular mood.
Draw or paint yourself using a different prop
to suggest your particular interests or to
create a specific mood.
Links
Visit www.vangoghmuseum.nl and go to
Permanent Collections to find Vincent van
Gogh's Still Life with Books 1887 and Study for
'Romans Parisiens' 1888. These are the same
kind of soft backed books as in Gwen John's
painting. The books carry their own French
personality; like people they contribute to the
atmosphere of the painting. Do you prefer the
books on their own (Van Gogh) or with a person
(Gwen John)? Work out the reason for your
preference.
Gwen John and Augustus John
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Lyric Fantasy c1913/14
Oil and pencil on canvas 23380 x 4720 mm. Tate. Bequeathed by Mrs Reine Pitman 1972
© copyright courtesy of the artist's estate / www.bridgeman.co.uk
Gwen John and Augustus John
'I am apt to search much further back than human memory can tell of,
to Pre-history and the Dawn, for clues to a clearer sense of personal
identity.' Augustus John in his memoir, Finishing Touches
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Lyric Fantasy c1913/14
Oil and pencil on canvas 23380 x 4720 mm. Tate. Bequeathed by Mrs Reine Pitman 1972
© copyright courtesy of the artist's estate / www.bridgeman.co.uk
Background
Augustus is always presented as a flamboyant
opposite to Gwen; one of our tasks in viewing the
exhibition is to decide whether they really were so
different. Certainly he was much more showy, a man
with long hair who dressed as a gypsy, had affairs
with many women and who, in 1905, arranged for
Dorelia to have their first child in a caravan on
Dartmoor. Perhaps because he had experienced life
in the open air, landscape features strongly in his
figure compositions. It is scarcely present in Gwen's
work at all.
In 1911 he had moved his family to a country house
(Alderney Manor) in Dorset and the scenery in Lyric
Fantasy is inspired by Wareham Heath with its small
lakes. This landscape provides a timeless setting for
a gathering of figures which include Augustus's
dead wife Ida (far right). Deeply upset by her death
in 1907, Augustus has restored her to life in this
painting. Dorelia is shown playing a guitar near the
centre and the two women's children play amongst
some unidentified adults. Augustus believed that
'the artist is always an outsider ...Perhaps in a
dream he has caught a glimpse of a Golden Age and
is in search of it'. The question is, does he succeed
here in capturing this Golden Age? Does the picture
work as well as Gwen's much more down to earth
record of her room in Paris? The fact that Lyric
Fantasy is unfinished may suggest that Augustus
was dissatisfied with it. Perhaps the fact that Sir
Hugh Lane, who had commissioned the picture, died
on the Lusitania when it was torpedoed by the
Germans in 1915, might have disheartened him.
The format of the painting with its band of figures
stretched right across the surface might have been
suggested by Picasso's ground-breaking Les
Demoiselles d'Avignon which Augustus had seen
when he visited the artist in his Paris studio in
August 1907. In the same year Augustus expressed
sympathy for Picasso's bold simplifications by
declaring: 'I am about to paint a picture (Lyric
Fantasy) which will prove conclusively that the finest
decoration can be produced without any reference
to visual "nature"'.
.
For discussion
What difference in atmosphere does the open
air setting of Lyric Fantasy create in
comparison with Gwen's portrait of her room
in Paris? Are there any similarities in mood
between the two paintings?
.
Activity
When you next paint figures, experiment by
placing them first in an outdoor and then in an
indoor setting. What difference does the
setting create in the atmosphere of your
group?
Links
This painting features both Augustus's dead
wife and his living mistress with some of their
children. He paints his family as a dynasty just
as David des Granges did in the mid
seventeenth century in The Saltonstall Family,
which you can see in gallery room 2 outside the
exhibition. Find this huge painting or see it
reproduced by visiting
www.tate.org.uk/collection. It features Sir
Richard Saltonstall standing with his children
and his seated second wife who is holding her
new baby. Sir Richard's first wife who has died is
the ghostly figure in the bed gesturing towards
her children. Notice that in Lyric Fantasy Ida also
looks towards two of her children, but as in the
earlier work, they cannot see her. In your
opinion which is the more convincing inclusion
of a ghost with the living? Why?
(The Saltonstall Family is also available as a key
work card in the Portraits set which is on sale in
Tate shops.)
Gwen John and Augustus John
Gwen John (1876-1939)
A Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris (with Open Window) 1907-09
Oil on canvas on board 31.2 x 24.8 cm
National Museums & Galleries of Wales
Copyright Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Gwen John and Augustus John
'My room is so delicious after a whole day outside, it seems to me that
I am not myself except in my room.' Gwen John in a letter to Rodin
Gwen John (1876-1939)
A Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris (with Open Window) 1907-09
Oil on canvas on board 31.2 x 24.8 cm
National Museums & Galleries of Wales
Copyright Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Background
A painting of a room can be more than just a
description of appearances. Very often the room is
thought to say something about the people who live
there. Sometimes male artists have painted rooms
as women's space to try to understand the
environment in which they live.
Gwen John painted several views of the rooms she
lived in which are quite as expressive of her
personality as her self-portraits. This one shows her
attic room in an eighteenth century house in the Rue
du Cherche Midi in Paris, where she lived from
spring 1907 to autumn 1909. The simplicity of the
room with its few possessions (which you will find
repeated in other paintings) is presented as an
ideal. It may make you envy the life she led there on
her own. She was no hermit; she had friends and
contacts with the Paris art world and remained in
contact with her brother and his family. Nonetheless
her life was very different and much quieter than his.
Gwen does not exclude the outer world entirely; her
outdoor clothes are draped over her cheap wicker
chair. The bright daylight outside shines through the
open window into the subdued light of the room.
The picture was painted at the time that Gwen's
love affair with sculptor Auguste Rodin was declining
and the empty chair might suggest an absent
presence. That could be the artist herself or it might
stand as her hope that Rodin will come back to sit in
it. Yet the overall atmosphere of the interior is of
contentment rather than of sadness.
.
For discussion
Compare this painting with A Corner of the
Artist's Room in Paris c.1907-9. What
differences are there in the two pictures? How
do the changes in the painting with a closed
window affect the atmosphere? Which room
seems the more inviting to you?
Look closely at the way Gwen laid on the paint
in these two pictures and compare their
texture with that of Lyric Fantasy. Does the
way the pictures are painted match the overall
mood?
.
.
Activity
Does your own bedroom reflect your own
personality? If not, how could you alter it to
make it seem more like you?
Links
Compare the empty chair in Gwen John's
painting with the one in Van Gogh's Chair 1888
in the National Gallery. (To see an image of this
painting, visit www.nationalgallery.org.uk and
look for it under 'Permanent Collection'). If the
chairs stand for the absent artists, how do you
read the difference in their characters? Imagine
a conversation between the two chairs. Is one
more feminine, more gentle, more easily
offended than the other?
In room 19 of Tate Britain look at Harold Gilman's
French Interior c1905-7. Gilman was born in the
same year as Gwen John and also painted
portraits and interiors. How is the mood of this
painting different from Gwen's? Does the
inclusion of a person add to or diminish the
work's atmospheric content?
Gwen John and Augustus John
Gwen John (1876-1939)
Nude Girl 1909-10
Oil on canvas, 445 x 279 mm
Tate. Presented by the Contemporary Arts Society 1917
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Gwen John and Augustus John
'It is a great strain doing Fenella. It is a pretty little face but she is
dreadful.'
Gwen in a letter to her friend Ursula Tyrwhitt, Sept 1909
Gwen John (1876-1939)
Nude Girl 1909-10
Oil on canvas, 445 x 279 mm
Tate. Presented by the Contemporary Arts Society 1917
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Background
Gwen John's painting fits American art critic Robert
Rosenblum's notions of Britishness in two ways.
Firstly because hers is 'an art of whispered tonalities'
which follows on from Whistler's often nearly
monochrome paintings. Secondly because, like
Stanley Spencer and Lucian Freud in their treatment
of sexual themes, some of her paintings 'reveal the
volcano beneath the placid surface'. Nude Girl and
Girl with Bare Shoulders of the same year are cases
in point. Augustus wrote to John Rothenstein that
Gwen's 'passions for both men and women were
outrageous and irrational'. These two paintings of
model Fenella Lovell track Gwen's disillusionment
with the woman whose blue eyes had originally
attracted her and whom she had paid £15 (a great
deal of money at the time) to model for her.
Nude Girl is unusual both in the thinness of the
naked girl and in its frank exposition of unhappy
feelings. We are used to seeing old master pictures,
painted by men, of desirable nudes. Fenella is not
confidently nude but exposed as naked, so thin that
she could be anorexic. Like Fenella who had been
rejected as a model by Rodin because she was too
thin, Gwen was eating very little because she was
upset because Rodin was no longer her lover. He
and his secretary, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, were
distressed at her self-imposed diet of chestnuts in
milk. To writer John Berger, the word naked means
'to be oneself, to be without disguise' and Fenella
reveals her undisguised self. Instead of using her
clothes to add to her attractions she wears a dress
that looks as if it might fall off any moment.
Writer and painter Wyndham Lewis, whose portrait
by Augustus is included in the exhibition, noted 'the
anguished rigidity of the pose' of the Nude Girl. Look
at how her long, long arm adds to this feeling of
extreme awkwardness and discomfort in both
paintings.
.
For discussion
Look at the Girl with Bare Shoulders and the
Nude Girl. Does their gaze make you feel
uncomfortable? Why might that be? In your
opinion, what is Fenella thinking about the
artist for whom she is posing?
.
Activity
Once you have left the exhibition, find Parting
at Morning 1891 by William Rothenstein in
gallery room 17. In what ways does it
resemble the Girl with Bare Shoulders? Which
of the two paintings do you find more
disturbing and why?
Links
Visit www.google.com and go to 'Images'. Type
in 'Maja Desnuda'. Compare the attitude of male
artist Francisco de Goya, who died in 1828, to a
nude woman, with Gwen John's approach to
female nakedness. How can you describe the
differences?
Gwen John and Augustus John
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Joseph Hone 1932
Oil on canvas, 508 x 405 mm
Tate. Purchased 1946
© copyright courtesy of the artist's estate / www.bridgeman.co.uk
Gwen John and Augustus John
'John was fifty-three in 1931, but he seemed old, his hair was grey, his
eyes bloodshot.'
Lady Mosley about Augustus John in 1931
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Joseph Hone 1932
Oil on canvas, 508 x 405 mm
Tate. Purchased 1946
© copyright courtesy of the artist's estate / www.bridgeman.co.uk
Background
In his excellent biography of Augustus John, Michael
Holroyd paints a picture of a man who by the time
he was 54 (his age when he painted this picture)
was riddled by self-doubt, subject to fits of terrible
gloom, often isolated himself from communication
with others and who tried to find solace in overgenerous quantities of alcohol. He had long outlived
his early popularity and fame as an artist although
he had been elected RA (Royal Academician),
considered a high achievement, just four years
earlier, in 1928. One talent that he never lost,
however, was the ability to conjure up a living
likeness of his friends, not only in their appearance
but in their character. Joe Hone was an old friend, a
distinguished Irish biographer, best remembered for
a biography of his friend and contemporary, the
poet WB Yeats. Holroyd describes him as as 'an
Irishman of impressive silence', and there is
something about these slightly glazed, dreamy eyes
that lends credence to that description.
In 1927 the John family had moved to Fryern Court
on the edge of the New Forest. Hone came there to
stay in the early summer of 1932 and sat for his
portrait. Augustus was not particularly pleased with
the results and would have liked to do more
drawings but his friend was unable to return and the
picture remained, at Dorelia's request, as he had left
it.
.
For discussion
Augustus John had the ability to bring his
sitters to life with quite startling effect. Look
for example at the portrait of his son Robin
c.1912 and of his friend and fellow artist
Wyndham Lewis c.1905. Does Joseph Hone
come magically alive for you? (If not, why not?)
What kind of a man do you think he was?
At the time he painted this picture Augustus
John was generally considered to be past his
prime (read the quotation at the top of this
page). He himself was worried that he had lost
his talent. What is your verdict?
Augustus was often able to enter
imaginatively into the shoes of his sitter.
Compare his outward going attitude in this
portrait with Gwen's The Nun. Does Gwen
bring out characteristics of the nun in the
same way?
.
.
.
Activity
Compare this portrait with others by Augustus
in the exhibition. In your opinion, which sitter
does he bring most effectively to life?
Links
At the height of his fame Augustus was seen as
continuing in his portraits where JS Sargent had
left off. On leaving the exhibition look at Sargent
paintings on display in collection rooms 9, 15
and 17 and see whether you can see a
connection between the two styles of
portraiture.
Gwen John and Augustus John
Gwen John (1876-1939)
The Nun c 1915-21
Oil on board, 707 x 446 mm
Tate. Purchased 1940
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Gwen John and Augustus John
'Ma religion et mon art, c'est toute ma vie.'
Gwen John
('My religion and my art are my entire life.')
Gwen John (1876-1939)
The Nun c 1915-21
Oil on board, 707 x 446 mm
Tate. Purchased 1940
© Estate of Gwen John 2004. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Background
Gwen became a Roman Catholic in 1913. She had
admired the costumes of the Sisters of Charity who
ran an orphanage in the small town of Meudon
where she lived. She met the Mother Superior and
promised to paint a number of pictures of the
founder of their order, Mère Poussepin. She worked
from a printed prayer card, using as her models two
nuns who adopted the posture of Mère Poussepin.
Gwen found the work difficult and did not complete
the first painting for seven years. The Nun is the
earliest painting of a nun in this exhibition and she is
shown wearing the original seventeenth century
headdress worn by Mère Poussepin on the prayer
card.
About this time Gwen wrote: 'I don't live when I
spend time without thought'. Unlike her brother
who, in his portraits of friends, brought out their
individual characteristics, Gwen used nonprofessional models in order to create archetypal
images. That is to say that her interest lay in the
condition of being a nun rather than in the
personality of one specific nun. The viewer's hunch
that she picked up qualities in her sitters that
corresponded to her own characteristics will be
strengthened by these works which clearly express
her own satisfaction in quiet thoughtfulness and
introspection. In them she expressed what she
described to her friend Ursula Tyrwhitt as 'a more
interior life'.
Working on a plaster ground, Gwen applied her
paint in separate touches echoing the simple
patterns of Japanese prints which she admired. The
paintings of nuns were much admired at Gwen's
one-man show at the Chenil Gallery in 1926.
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For discussion
Look at all Gwen John's paintings of nuns and
of Mère Poussepin. Do the paintings share any
one quality?
What is special about the artist's range of
colours and her technique in these works? Do
you think they accord well with the subject?
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Activity
After you leave the exhibition find room 14 of
the collection displays. Find GF Watts's The
Dweller in the Innermost c1885-6 in which a
winged female figure with a trumpet
personifies self-reflective thought and the
human conscience. Which expresses such
feelings best for you, this painting or Gwen
John's The Nun?
Links
Also in the collection displays, look at Harold
Gilman's Mrs Mounter at the Breakfast Table exh.
1917 in room 19 so that you can compare it with
The Nun. The two women have very different
professions; Mrs Mounter was Gilman's
landlady. But can you find any similarities in the
way the artists present the two women?