Skip to main content
Seated Girl Holding a Piece of Sewing
Seated Girl Holding a Piece of Sewing

Seated Girl Holding a Piece of Sewing

Artist (Haverfordwest, Wales, 1876 - 1939)
Date1915-1925
Mediumoil on canvas
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsHeight: 41 cm, Width: 33 cm
Frame Size: 55.1 x 47.1 x 6.5cm
AcquisitionPurchased in 1962 with income from the Murray Fund.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG002836
About MeGwen John followed her younger brother Augustus to London to study art at the Slade School. Moving to France, she led a very unconventional life, never pursued recognition and became increasingly solitary and reclusive. Her self-absorption and introspection are reflected in the very intense and individual nature of her work. This painting was probably painted between 1915 and 1925 when the artist owned a studio at 29, rue Terre Neuve in Meudon, a south-western suburb of Paris.

Here her characteristically muted colours, in a close range of tones, convey the effect of diffused light illuminating the attic room. The soft colours, the simple pyramidal composition and the quiet introspective pose of the sitter, all contribute to the stillness that pervades the painting. The name of the seated girl in the painting is unknown. Despite the fact that she appeared in at least five versions of this painting, and the majority of the artist's most important paintings of girls in interiors, Gwen John remarked that she was 'just a neighbour' in Meudon.

Rosenthal compared John to Whistler in her ability to paint beautiful, muted tones. However where tone often outshone the sitters presence, in Whistler's work, John's figure studies are full of presence and characterisation.

More About Me
Using oil on canvas, the soft, subdued colours and simple brush marks help the artist to convey the shyness and simplicity of the sitter, whose identity is unknown.
Exhibitions