John, Gwen 1876-1939
Welsh painter

Born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, she was the elder sister of Augustus John. She lived in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, before studying at the Slade School of Art (1895-98). On moving to Paris in 1904, she worked as an artist's model, becoming Auguste Rodin's mistress in c.1906. After converting to Roman Catholicism in 1913 she lived at Meudon, where she became increasingly religious and reclusive. She painted some landscapes, but most of her paintings are of single female figures, nuns or young girls, cats and interiors. She exhibited with the New English Art Club from 1900-11, and her work was included in the Armory Show of 1913. Her only onewoman show during her lifetime was in London in 1926.