Gwen John (British, 1876–1939) Study of a Girl Reading

Exhibited

"Gwen John Memorial Exhibition," Matthiesen, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, 1946 (as Half-Length of a Girl Reading).
"Turn of the Century English Watercolors and Drawings," Davis Galleries, New York, New York, 1969, no. 31.
"Gwen John: A Retrospective Exhibition," Davis & Long Company, New York, New York, October 14- November 1, 1975, no. 39.

Literature

Roy Davis, Turn of the Century English Watercolors and Drawings, an exhibition catalogue, Davis Galleries, New York, 1969, no. 31 (illustrated).
Cecily Langdale, Gwen John: A Retrospective Exhibition, an exhibition catalogue, Davis & Long Company, New York, 1975, p. 39, no. 39 (illustrated).

Note

Long overshadowed by her brother Augustus John and famous lover Auguste Rodin, Gwen John is now considered one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century. The Welsh artist spent much of her childhood drawing alongside her brother, both greatly influenced by their late mother, an amateur artist. In 1895, she went to London and attended the Slade School, where she received various prizes. Three years later, she ventured to Paris and studied at the Académie Carmen, where she learned under James Abbott McNeill Whistler for six months. John would reside in France for nearly the entirety of her life, having her work shown at the New English Art Club (1899), the Carfax Gallery (1903), and the Société du Salon d’Automne (1910). John would also be shown in numerous American exhibitions during her time, thanks to wealthy patron John Quinn. Her only solo show would be in 1926 at Chenil Galleries in London.

Study of Girl Reading is imbued with John’s quintessential style found in her paintings. Subjects throughout her career were almost always women and young girls. The pieces are characterized by their subtlety containing a simple background and often three-quarter-length figure. This composition closely aligns with her introversion and preference for solitude. In a letter to her brother, Whistler would attribute Gwen with a “fine sense of tone.” A proficiency is clearly demonstrated by John’s use of dark wash on the figure’s cap and arm, as well as the use of pencil below the book.

The work captivates through its seeming quietness. In relation to her often-characterized boisterous and exuberant brother, Gwen is perceived as subdued and full of humility. Yet according to Augustus, the two “were not opposites” but rather very similar. At one exhibition of her work, where critics largely ignored pieces like this, one of them wrote, “To me, the little pictures are almost painfully charged with feeling, even as their neighbours are empty of it. Gwen’s pictures are simply staggering.”

Despite its relative small size, Study of Girl Reading is an impactful work that expresses the inner talent of an oftentimes overlooked figure. It is a reflection of the life and work of someone whose eulogy would later state, “Few on meeting this retiring person in black, with her tiny hands and feet, a soft, almost inaudible voice, and delicate Pembrokeshire accent, would have guessed that here was the greatest woman artist of her age, or, as I think, of any other.”

Provenance

The Artist.

The Estate of the Artist (no. E.J. 195), until 1969.

Faerber & Maison Ltd., London, United Kingdom.

Davis & Long Company, New York, New York (no. DL-583)

Property from an Important New York Estate.