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Creator:
Gwen John, born in Haverfordwest, Wales, 1876; active in England and France; died in Dieppe, France, 1939
Title:
Young Woman in Mulberry Dress
Date:
Winter 1923 to 1924
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
10 3/4 × 16 inches (27.3 × 40.6 cm), Frame: 22 1/8 × 16 5/8 × 1 1/2 inches (56.2 × 42.2 × 3.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Bequest of Iola S. Haverstick
Copyright Status:
No Known Copyright
Accession Number:
B2003.9.1
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:
B2003.9.1FR
Subject Terms:
brushstrokes | portrait | sadness | woman
Access:
Not on view
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:52823
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Gwen John painted a series of small portraits of the same subject in the winter of 1923-24. The setting is the artist’s studio on the outskirts of Paris at 29 rue Terre Neuve, Meudon. When one of the other “Mulberry Dress” portraits appeared on the market in 1926 it carried the evocative title A Slavonic Maid. This is the only clue we have as to the identity of the sitter. These portraits built on John’s earlier series of similarly three-quarter length female “convalescent” subjects, but reflects her interest in a more varied palette, a bolder and more energetic technique, and stronger contrasts of light and dark. Gwen John stopped painting altogether in about 1930.
Created by Gwen John (1876–1939), the artist; bequest to her nephew, Edwin John (1905–1978) [1] [a]; assigned to Matthiesen Gallery Ltd., London, 1940 [2]; assigned to Faerber and Maison, London, 1963 [3]; acquired by Maynard Walker Gallery, New York, 1965 [4]; purchased by Iola Stetson Haverstick (1924–2002), New York, 1965 [5]; bequest to the Yale Center for British Art, March 2003.

Notes:
[1] After Gwen John's death in 1939, her nephew, Edwin John (1905–1978), traveled to Meudon, retrieved her remaining works from her Rue Terre Neuve home, and brought them back to England. The fourth son of artist Augustus John (1878–1961), Edwin followed the artistic paths of both his father and aunt, becoming a watercolorist. He maintained a close relationship with his aunt until her death and was the sole executor of her estate.

[2] In August 1940, Matthiesen Gallery held a memorial exhibition of John’s paintings and drawings at Wildenstein & Co., London. This exhibition marks the beginning of Matthiesen Gallery’s representation of the Gwen John Estate.

[3] Following the Mattiesen Gallery’s closure in 1963, former associate Stefanie Maison represented the Gwen John Estate as Faerber and Maison until 1973, and, thereafter, under her own name.

[4] Maynard Walker (1896 –1985) was an American art dealer and collector who established the Maynard Walker Gallery in New York around 1935. Walker possibly purchased this painting following Faerber and Maison’s 1964 Gwen John exhibition held from November 13 to December 12, 1964. The painting was listed as no. 12 in the exhibition catalog.

[5] Iola Stetson Haverstick (1924–2002) was an American collector and freelance writer. In the early 1960s, she became Secretary to the Committee at Yale University.

Citations:
[a] Cecily Langdale, Gwen John: With a Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and a Selection of the Drawings (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987): 121.

Recent Acquisitions - Summer 2005 (Yale Center for British Art, 2006-05-19 - 2006-08-14) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Matthew Hargraves, "Yale Center for British Art joins Art UK", ArtUK, 24 June 2019, https://artuk.org/discover/stories/yale-center-for-british-art-joins-art-uk [Website]

Cecily Langdale, Gwen John : With a Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings and a Selection of the Drawings, , Yale University Press, New Haven, 1987, pp. 85, 97, 100., No. 137, pl. 248, NJ18 J594 A12 L25 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 1, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]


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