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Creator:
Gwen John, born in Haverfordwest, Wales, 1876; active in England and France; died in Dieppe, France, 1939
Title:
The Pilgrim
Date:
ca. 1920
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
29 × 21 3/8 inches (73.7 × 54.3 cm), Frame: 35 × 27 1/8 × 2 3/4 inches (88.9 × 68.9 × 7 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
No Known Copyright
Accession Number:
B1993.30.16
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:
B1993.30.16FR
Subject Terms:
cape | pilgrim | portrait | woman
Access:
On view
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:1403
Export:
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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


Gwen John’s conversion to Catholicism in 1913 led her to discover the writings of the Carmelite nun Thérèse of Lisieux, who had died in 1897 at just twenty-four years old. Canonized in 1925, Thérèse had described a "little way" to holiness, the humble acceptance of small sufferings and sacrifices in the monotony of daily life rather than the necessity of heroic acts of faith. This painting of a young woman, though larger than usual, is typical of John’s mature work when she relied on only a few models to produce paintings of solitary young women. They are rarely named and are typically posed in quiet contemplation, sometimes, as here, praying the Rosary. They reflect a belief in the importance of embracing one’s insignificance and of the superiority of the work of prayer and contemplation over worldly action.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
Created by Gwen John (1876–1939), the artist; acquired by Michel Hewitt Salaman (1879–1971), Surrey, by 1925 [1]; by descent to his son, Michel Salaman (1911–1987), London [2] [b] [c]; purchased by Browse & Darby, Ltd., London, 1984; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1984; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, October 1993.

Notes:
[1] Michel Hewitt Salaman (1879–1971) was an artist and close friend of Gwen John and Augustus John during their studies at the Slade School of Fine Art.

[2] Michel Salaman (1911–1987), son of Michel Hewitt Salaman (1879–1971), was an artist and teacher who also studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. Salaman had his first commercial exhibition with Browse & Darby in 1982.

Citations:
[a] Cecily Langdale, Gwen John: With a Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings and a Selection of the Drawings (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987): 165.

[b] Joshua Darby, personal communication, March 10, 2025.

[c] "Michael Salaman," Contemporary Art Society, last modified January 10, 2025, https://contemporaryartsociety.org/artists/michael-salaman.

In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

In a New Light: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art (Yale University Art Gallery, 2023-03-24 - 2023-12-03) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Augustus John and Gwen John (National Museum Wales, 2005-02-12 - 2005-05-15) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Augustus John and Gwen John (Tate Britain, 2004-09-29 - 2005-01-09) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

20th Century Paintings and Sculpture (Yale Center for British Art, 2000-01-27 - 2000-04-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Juxtapositions (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-11-19 - 1998-01-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

British & French paintings, drawings, and sculpture, 1870-1950, 26 June-28 July 1984, Browse & Darby , Browse & Darby, 1984, no. 13, DealerCat Browse Darby [ORBIS]

M. Chamot, Gwen John and Augustus John, Country Life, vol. 59, June 5, 1926, p. 773, S3 +C68 59 (YCBA) [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) [YCBA]

Alicia Foster, Gwen John, Tate Gallery Publishing, London, 1999, pp. 62-3, No. 53, NJ18 J594 F67 1999 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Alicia Foster, Gwen John, Tate Publishing, London, 2015, pp. 74, 76, fig. 53, NJ18.J594 F67 2015 (YCBA) [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) [YCBA]

Gwen John, 1876-1939, 3 to 26 March 1976 , Anthony d'Offay Gallery, 1976, no. 10, NJ18 J594 A68 (YCBA) [YCBA]

David Fraser Jenkins, Gwen John and Augustus John, Tate Publishing, London, 2004, pp. 155-56, no. 100, NJ18 J594 G84 + 2004 oversize (YCBA) [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) [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 2004 [ORBIS]

Paul 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) [YCBA]

Pilgrim (Art Reproduction), Burlington Magazine, V. 126, July 1984, p. xix, N1 B87+ (YCBA) Also available in JSTOR [YCBA]

Sue Roe, Gwen John, a life , Chatto & Windus, London, 2001, p. 247, NJ18 J594 R64 2001 (YCBA) [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) [YCBA]

Mary Taubman, Gwen John, Scolar Press, London, 1985, p. 128, , pl. 55, NJ18 J594 T28 (YCBA) [YCBA]


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