Gwen John, 1876–1939, British, Still Life with a Prayer Book, Shawl, Vase of Flowers and Inkwell, late 1920s
- Title:
Still Life with a Prayer Book, Shawl, Vase of Flowers and Inkwell
- Date:
- late 1920s
- Medium:
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions:
- Support (PTG): 10 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches (26.7 × 21.6 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Copyright Information
- Accession Number:
- B2014.5.2
- Classification:
- Paintings
- Collection:
- Paintings and Sculpture
- Subject Terms:
- flowers | inkwell | prayer book | shawl | still life | vase | wallpaper
- Access:
- On view in the galleries
- Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:54272
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
Gwen John left Britain for France in 1903 and lived and worked in Meudon, outside Paris, for the rest of her life. A private person with little appetite for social activity, John eschewed the bohemian artistic milieu of Paris but still gained exposure to the latest innovations in modern painting. The quiet, contemplative mood of this painting is coupled with a sense of artistic daring. The perspective of the table is so steep that the objects look like they might slide off. The striped wallpaper flattens the image to an even greater extent. The objects form a picture of the artist, with the prayer book, inkwell, shawl, and flowers evoking her pious nature, furtive mind, and melancholic sense of beauty. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2020
Gwen John, 1876-1939, Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, 1982, cat. 17, NJ18 J594 H66 (YCBA)
Gwen John, Gwen John : A Retrospective Exhibition, Davis & Long Company, New York, New York, 1975, p. 34, no. 31, V 0618 (YCBA)
Cecily Langdale, Gwen John : With a Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings and a Selection of the Drawings, , Yale University Press, New Haven, 1987, p. 100, 176, no. 144, pl. 254, NJ18 J594 A12 L25 (YCBA)
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