Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
No Known Copyright
Accession Number:
B1993.30.16
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
pilgrim | woman | portrait | cape
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)In a New Light: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art (Yale University Art Gallery, 2023-03-24 - 2023-12-03)Augustus John and Gwen John (Tate Britain, 2004-09-29 - 2005-01-09)Augustus John and Gwen John (National Museum Wales, 2005-02-12 - 2005-05-15)20th Century Paintings and Sculpture (Yale Center for British Art, 2000-01-27 - 2000-04-30)Juxtapositions (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-11-19 - 1998-01-04)
Publications:
British & French paintings, drawings, and sculpture, 1870-1950, 26 June-28 July 1984, Browse & Darby , Browse & Darby, 1984, no. 13, DealerCat Browse DarbyM. Chamot, Gwen John and Augustus John, Country Life, vol. 59, June 5, 1926, p. 773, S3 +C68 59 (YCBA)Ian Collins, Modernism and Memory: Rhoda Pritzker and the Art of Collecting, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2016, p. 122 n. 7, N6768 .M635 2016 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Alicia Foster, Gwen John, Tate Gallery Publishing, London, 1999, pp. 62-3, No. 53, NJ18 J594 F67 1999 (YCBA)Alicia Foster, Gwen John, Tate Publishing, London, 2015, pp. 74, 76, fig. 53, NJ18.J594 F67 2015 (YCBA)Betsy G. Fryberger, Gwen John, paintings and drawings from the collection of John Quinn & others, Stanford University Museum of Art, Stanford California, 27 April until 27 June 1982 , 19, The Museum, Stanford, Calif., 1982, pp. 19-21, NJ18 J594 F78 (YCBA)Gwen John, 1876-1939, 3 to 26 March 1976 , Anthony d'Offay Gallery, 1976, no. 10, NJ18 J594 A68 (YCBA)David Fraser Jenkins, Gwen John and Augustus John, Tate Publishing, London, 2004, pp. 155-56, no. 100, NJ18 J594 G84 + 2004 oversize (YCBA)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, 87, 88.., no. 107, pl. 127, NJ18 J594 A12 L25 (YCBA)Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, Gwen John letters and notebooks, selected from the Gwen John papers at the National Library of Wales , London, 2004, p. 149, NJ18 J594 A2 2004Paul 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)Pilgrim (Art Reproduction), Burlington Magazine, V. 126, July 1984, p. xix, N1 B87+ (YCBA) Also available in JSTORSue Roe, Gwen John, a life , Chatto & Windus, London, 2001, p. 247, NJ18 J594 R64 2001 (YCBA)Maria Tamboukou, Nomadic narratives, visual forces, Gwen John's letters and paintings , v. 1, Peter Lang, New York, 2010, pp. 86, 87, NJ18 J594 T36 2010 (YCBA)Mary Taubman, Gwen John, Scolar Press, London, 1985, p. 128, , pl. 55, NJ18 J594 T28 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Although John painted this sitter, a professional artist’s model, more than fifty times, her identity remains unknown. The artist consistently depicted her seated alone in a sparse interior but styled her with different props and clothes. Here, the model holds a rosary, which Catholics use in prayer. John, who moved from London to Paris in 1904, converted to the faith in 1913 and thereafter regarded her art practice as a calling from God. Her loose brushwork, thinly applied oil paint, and muted colors are characteristic of her works from the late 1910s and early 1920s, and reflect the influence of the French modernists. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025