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'In 50 years’ time I will be known as the brother of Gwen John.' – Augustus John

Gwen John’s reputation as an artist has grown since her death. During her early career, Gwen was arguably overshadowed by her older brother, the male artist Augustus John. Her work is now held in collections globally, including the Tate (London), Musée Rodin (Paris) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).

John was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales and later joined her brother in studying at the Slade from 1895 to 1898. As the Slade was one of the first Art Schools in Britain to admit female students, Gwen began her artistic career as one of the first of a generation of female painters to receive a formal art education. Distancing herself somewhat from any major artistic group or specific movement, John carved her own distinctive style; often governed by an overriding stillness, subtlety of palette and a rich quality of light.

She is now well known for her intimate portraits. The subject here, Marie Hamonet, sat for Gwen John during the artist’s time in Pléneuf, a small village on the north coast of Brittany from 1918-19. Homonet’s strength of character is profoundly felt in the economy of line of her furrowed brow and pursed lips, whilst her folded arms similarly suggest a brazen and youthful spirit. Another possible study of Hamonet by John is held at the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (accession Number WA1964.84.5).
The present drawing was gifted by Gwen John to Isabel Bowser, a close friend and a keen artist, before being passed to her sister Lucy. John first met Bowser in about 1908 when Gwen sat for her, and it is possible that the pair lived together briefly in the 1910s. Isabel, who owned a number of works by the artist, was also sister to Rhoda Symons, whose husband Arthur was the subject of a series of drawings by John.