Three images, at least, should startle the crows. The first is a drawing of a nun fairly beaming with humour. The second is a painting of a Parisian concierge with an expression of such rancorous gloom she threatens to undermine the characteristic quietude of the Gwen John portrait. The third is a monochrome photograph of the artist herself, circa 1908, working as a life model for Rodin and here blown up to the size of life – in effect, a gigantic nude.
This is a show with a mission to surprise, to jump us out of our old preconceptions. The Welsh-born Gwen John (1876-1939) is no longer to be seen as a lonely recluse, fragile, withdrawn and pale as her painting. Instead we are presented, in this first “major retrospective” for 20 years, with “a story of connections”.
