Gwen John

Dorelia in a Black Dress

c.1903–4

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In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1900

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Artist: Gwen John 1876–1939
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 730 × 489 mm
frame: 885 × 645 × 113 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by the Trustees of the Duveen Paintings Fund 1949
Reference: N05910

Display caption

This painting shows Dorelia McNeill, a friend of Gwen John who later became the partner of her brother, Augustus. John portrays her in an informal, intimate way. Her attitude may suggest self-confidence. John painted the work whilst she and McNeill were walking through France, sleeping rough and earning money from sketching and singing. The 20th century saw an expansion of opportunities for women. John and McNeill both trained at the Slade School of Art, which was more liberal than the older Royal Academy. They were part of a group of ‘Bohemians’, artists and intellectuals who lived experimental life-styles.

Gallery label, November 2021

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Catalogue entry

N05910 DORELIA IN A BLACK DRESS c. 1902

Not inscribed.
Canvas, 28 3/4×19 1/4 (73×49).
Presented by the Duveen Paintings Fund 1949.
Coll: Mrs Ursula Tyrwhitt; purchased by the Duveen Paintings Fund at the New Chenil Galleries 1926.
Exh: New Chenil Galleries, May–July 1926 (44); Meisterwerke Englischer Malerei aus Drei Jahrhunderten, Secession, Vienna, September–November 1927 (159); Arts Council, Ethel Walker, Frances Hodgkins, Gwen John, Tate Gallery, May–June 1952 (177).
Lit: John Rothenstein, Modern English Painters: Sickert to Smith, 1952, p.167.
Repr: The Listener, 8 May 1952, front cover.

In c. 1902 Gwen John went to France with Dorelia MacNiel, who later became Augustus John's second wife. They went to Paris by way of Bordeaux and Toulouse. It was during their three months' stay in Toulouse that Gwen John painted this portrait and another called ‘Dorelia at Toulouse’. Both were painted directly on to the canvas without any preliminary studies.

Published in:
Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1964, I