To mark the 150th anniversary of her birth, Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum of Wales in Caerdydd is currently putting on an exhibition of the work of the Welsh artist Gwen John, under the title Gwen John – Strange Beauties.
The Guardian recently gave the exhibition preview a five star review, calling it a “superb, daunting retrospective of the woman who is now, perhaps, the most famous Welsh artist.” It continues: “It is not a blow-by-blow biographical story of how she was born in Haverfordwest in 1876, how she and her brother Augustus both loved art as children, how she insisted on going to the Slade School of Fine Art like him then made her life in bohemian France“.
Nation Cymru also penned a glowing review, stating, “It is the constant return to the same subjects that makes John and her Strange Beauties so alluring. It is the use of everyday materials: packaging cut up to use as a miniature canvas, brown paper, a Keats poetry book adorned with sketches.“
In addition to John’s paintings, sketches and the like, the exhibition also features such items as her exercise books and letters, plus contributions from other artists who figured largely in her life, such as her brother Augustus and the sculptor Auguste Rodin, for whom she modelled and with whom she also shared a bed at one time.
One fascinating feature were the exhibits from Gwen John’s early artistic career (e.g. the portrait and sketch of her sister Winifred) before she went to the Slade from 1895 to 1898, which the exhibition tells us fundamentally changed her approach to art, as well as her technique.
Your ‘umble scribe decided to desert Bristol for a day to pay a visit and was not disappointed, spending a good hour and a half exploring the five rooms full of exhibits, although he agrees with a member of the museum staff to whom he spoke that it merited a second visit.
Amgueddfa Cymru acquired a substantial portion of John’s archive after her early death in 1939, but the works on display also include items from various museums and galleries both in Europe and over the Atlantic, as well as from private collections.
Gwen John – Strange Beauties will be on until 28th June. See it if you can.