Augustus John OM

Portrait of a Woman

1911

© The estate of Augustus John. All Rights Reserved 2019 / Bridgeman Images

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Not on display
Artist
Augustus John OM 1878–1961
Medium
Oil paint on wood
Dimensions
Support: 406 x 324 mm
frame: 596 x 520 x 98 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by A.E. Anderson with assistance from the Art Fund 1923
Reference
N03731

Display caption

Augustus John was one of the star pupils of the Slade School in the late 1890s. He was invited to exhibit with the New English Art Club, and was one of its most innovative contributors in the early years of this century.
This portrait of the artist's wife Dorelia, was made for the important American collector John Quinn, who was an early admirer of John's work. The technique of painting in oils with pure colour, unshaded, had first been used by John in sketches of Provence in 1910. He used the same style in this portrait, but with quieter colours.

Gallery label, September 2004

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Catalogue entry

N03731 HEAD OF A GIRL c. 1908
 
Not inscribed.
Oil on wood, 16×12 3/4 (41×32·5).
Presented by A. E. Anderson through the National Art-Collections Fund 1923.
Coll: John Quinn, New York; bought by A. E. Anderson from the Independent Gallery 1923.
Exh: Private Collection of the Earlier Work of Augustus John, Independent Gallery, January–February 1923 (28); Temple Newsam, Leeds, July–August 1946 (29).
Repr: N.A.C.F. Report 1923, 1924, p.36; Picture Post, II, 18 March 1939, p.44 (in colour).

This is an early portrait of John's second wife, Dorelia.

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

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