Gwen John: an Artist and Her Teapot in a Man's World
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Gwen John: An Artist and Her Teapot in a Man’s World Jocelyne Fletcher A common trend in scholarly discourse about female artists is to orient them as they relate to their male counterparts. This scholarship implies that a female artist is forever trying to meet a standard set by a ‘creative genius’, a dominant male. Feminist thinking has challenged this apparent necessity: Is it not possible to focus on the artistic production of a female artist independently? Might a talented woman stand alone in critical readings of her artwork? Or must we continuously refer to Artemesia Gentileschi only as she pertains to her father Orazio? Must Lee Krasner always be compared to Jackson Pollock? Georgia O’Keefe to Alfred Steiglitz? This essay will examine the case of the British artist Gwen John (1876-1939) who is nearly always considered in relation to the significant male relationships of her life. In this essay, I consider the view that women ought to be regarded as artists independently of their relationship to men. Seeking to go beyond Victorian era gender ideals by which women artists are understood to be derivative of and dependent on their male counterparts, in this essay I show that there are other reasons why certain male relations should be included in a discussion about a woman artist. The presence of Gwen John’s brother Augustus John and her lover Auguste Rodin in the dialogue surrounding her artwork undoubtedly stems from age-old gendered norms. The real significance of these relationships, in terms of influence on her artistic output, cannot be appreciated using these antiquated models. Neither, however, should these relationships be completely excluded from a discussion of Gwen John’s work. These relationships are integral to her artistic production and by looking at Gwen’s Interior: The Brown Tea Pot (1916), we can take note of the various ways in which her brother and her lover had significant influence on the piece: without them we might not have seen such high caliber work from Gwen John at all (Fig. 1). Mary Taubman describes Interior: The Brown Teapot as being from Gwen’s most mature phase in painting.1 The painting is an example of her perfectionist tendency to paint the same scene or subject multiple times (Figs. 1-4). The subject matter and painting style are indicative of the influences of Auguste Rodin and Augustus John. A formal analysis of the piece shows a limited range of colour – grays, browns, beiges, whites, and the palest of blues. It showcases a teapot, teacup, dateless newspapers, a stool, a small table, and a fireplace in the background atop which sits some 1 Mary Taubman, Gwen John (Aldershot: Wildwood House Limited, 1985), 22-28. Taubman describes three major phases in Gwen John’s artistic journey, the latter being her mature phase. 27 of the artist’s brushes. The stool prevents the viewer from entering the pictorial space, and the incorporation of the cup and teapot implies the recent presence of someone in a private space; a space which the viewer can only observe, rather than participate in.2 The delicate brushwork and controlled composition reflect Gwen’s restrained and solitary personality. Gwen John’s abundant letters and journal entries provide insight into how she led her life and what affected her as an artist. By divorcing one’s self from the details not pertaining to Gwen’s artistic career, and honing in on the reasons for her posthumous success, we can see that these male relationships were not simply the acts of dominant males superimposing their opinions over a delicate, passive female artist, as would be consistent with Victorian gender norms. In Eunice Lipton and Carol Gemel’s review of certain literature about Gwen John, they find that female artist’s lives of the 19th and 20th centuries are either considered independently of gender, or are reduced to their sexual encounters.3 Neither approach is suitable. Considering Gwen’s social position as an unmarried woman living in the Victorian era, she had limited access to formal training and promotional opportunities equal to those of her male peers. This makes her relationships with men very influential. The function of these relationships, as all male-female pairings are, is the result of gendered social norms and can be analyzed to reveal their critical importance in the formation of her painting style and eventual success. The ideologies of gender undoubtedly affected Gwen’s artwork. Augustus John and Auguste Rodin helped to form and develop her artistic output. Let us first consider Gwen John’s relationship with her brother. Gwen John’s extant work is praised and revered by critics and scholars alike, though this was certainly not the case during her lifetime when her career was virtually ineffectual in comparison to that of her artist brother, Augustus. Gwen and Augustus both attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London where their studies overlapped from 1895-1897, during which time they lived together.4 While Gwen had a number of female artist friends from the Slade School, she was a recluse, described as a “reserved creature” by her brother, and was very hard on herself and her own abilities.5 Somewhat of a perfectionist, she hesitated to exhibit her works in 2 Edward B. Henning, “New Paintings by Four Artists from Britain,” Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 69, no. 10 (1982): 312. 3 Eunice Lipton and Carol Zemel, “Female Painter, Male Model,” Women’s Review of Books 4, no. 3 (1986): 10. Lipton and Zemel review two passages that include: Cecily Langdale and David Fraser Jenkins. Gwen John: An Interior Life (New York: Rizzoli, 1986), and Mary Taubman Gwen John (Aldershot: Wildwood House Limited, 1985). 4 Susan Gubar ““The Blank Page” and the Issues of Female Creativity,” Critical Inquiry 8, no. 2 (1981): 244. 5 Alison Thomas, Portraits of Women: Gwen John and her Forgotten 28 shows for fear of negative criticism. Her brother could see this first hand and as such he became Gwen’s chief supporter. He thought her to be one of the greatest women artists of the period, and was concerned that her lack of confidence and self-motivation might prevent her from succeeding, especially when paired with the fact that she had fewer opportunities than he did to exhibit work.6 Thus, he persuaded his sister to exhibit some of her flower paintings alongside his work in 1913 at the Carfax Gallery in London. Without the encouragement of Augustus, the comparatively little recognition she did receive during her life could have been reduced to none at all. It is known that of the few pieces she chose to display, one was removed the day before the opening because of her self-doubt.7 Interior: The Brown Teapot was completed three years after this exhibition and displays more confidence than she had at the time of the 1913 show. Interior: The Brown Teapot can be regarded as an example of the type of painting Gwen is most known for: she conveyed what she held dear as well as the atmosphere in which she lived. Gwen was further aided toward eventual success through the assistance of her brother as without his resources she would not have had a solo show during her lifetime. Augustus’ decision to refrain from exhibiting alongside her a second time, at the New Chenil Gallery in 1926, gave her the unique opportunity of having a one-woman show. Augustus apparently thought that his work would have overpowered his sister’s and she would be denied the recognition she deserved.8 Contemporary consensus about the pair puts Gwen ahead of her brother in talent and artistic legacy, and his own good will is most certainly a contributing factor to this valuation since the steps he took to give Gwen adequate exhibition space informs this opinion of her work.9 Perhaps the fact that older siblings have been known to express more warmth towards their younger brothers or sisters (as opposed to the opposite case) was a factor in their relationship that prompted Augustus to fortify the public viewing of Gwen’s art.10 As the elder of the two, it can be suggested that he acted as a guide to his younger sister at the time they were both working artists which has resulted in the surpassing of Gwen’s artistic reputation over his. Augustus’ support, then, is one of the ways in which Gwen’s art was shaped by her relationship with her brother. Likewise, the personality traits that we find exemplified in the Contemporaries (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994), 34. 6 Ibid., 64. 7 Taubman, Gwen John, 24, 34. 8 Thomas, Portraits of Women, 180. 9 Richard Cork, “O Brother, Where Art Thou? Augustus and Gwen John are Head- to-Head at Tate Britain,” New Statesman 133, no. 4709 (2004): 43. 10 Avidan Milevsky, Sibling Relationships in Childhood and Adolescence: Predictors and Outcomes (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011), 3. 29 character of Gwen’s work can also be sourced to her relationship with Augustus. Accounts of Gwen’s personality often include words like ‘solitary’, ‘quiet’, and ‘reclusive’, whereas Augustus is described as flamboyant and flashy.11 His work is characterized as often on the bounds of vulgarity since he tended towards showy society portraiture, whereas Gwen had an inclination towards simplicity and “quiet refinement.”12 Interior: The Brown Teapot exemplifies the serenity and calm of Gwen’s work and displays her mature use of thick paint application of a dry consistency in short strokes. The two opposing personas and styles of Gwen and her brother can be attributed to the process of deidentification.