Still Life with a Prayer Book, Shawl, Vase of Flowers and Inkwell
Date:
late 1920s
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
10 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches (26.7 × 21.6 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
No Known Copyright
Accession Number:
B2014.5.2
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
wallpaper | vase | inkwell | flowers | shawl | still life | prayer book
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30)A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
Publications:
Gwen John, 1876-1939, Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, 1982, cat. 17, NJ18 J594 H66 (YCBA)Gwen John, Gwen John : A Retrospective Exhibition, Davis & Long Company, New York, New York, 1975, p. 34, no. 31, V 0618 (YCBA)Cecily Langdale, Gwen John : With a Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings and a Selection of the Drawings, , Yale University Press, New Haven, 1987, p. 100, 176, no. 144, pl. 254, NJ18 J594 A12 L25 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Gwen John left Britain for France in 1903 and lived and worked in Meudon, outside Paris, for the rest of her life. A private person with little appetite for social activity, John eschewed the bohemian artistic milieu of Paris but still gained exposure to the latest innovations in modern painting. The quiet, contemplative mood of this painting is coupled with a sense of artistic daring. The perspective of the table is so steep that the objects look like they might slide off. The striped wallpaper flattens the image to an even greater extent. The objects form a picture of the artist, with the prayer book, inkwell, shawl, and flowers evoking her pious nature, furtive mind, and melancholic sense of beauty. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2020
Provenance:
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]; assigned to Stefanie Maison, London, 1973; acquired by Davis & Long Co., New York, 1973 [4]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1974; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, 2014. 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 Matthiesen 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] American art dealer Roy Davis (1922–2014) founded the New York-based Davis & Langdale Company in 1952. It functioned as Davis Galleries from 1952 until 1973; as Davis & Long Company from 1973 until 1980; and as Davis & Langdale Company with Cecily Langdale from 1980. Cecily Langdale is a scholar of Gwen John’s work and released a catalogue raisonné for the artist in 1989. 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.