Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/gwen-john-1363" aria-label="More by Gwen John" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Gwen John</a>
SelfPortrait
Purchased 1942
adults
artist, painter
arts and entertainment
brooch
clothing and personal items
John, Gwen
named individuals
objects
people
portraits
self-portraits
woman
work and occupations
<p>Gwen John trained at the Slade School of Art in London from 1895–1898. As a woman in an industry still largely dominated by men, John had to struggle for recognition. It has been suggested that the intense self-scrutiny of this image and her isolation, reflects her experiences as an artist. In recent years, John’s reputation has grown, and she is widely recognised for her intimate portraits and her subtle use of colour.</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2019</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
3 November 2003 – 19 January 2004
2004-01-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-11-03
Portraits of Artists
Collection based display
17 May 2004 – 9 December 2007
2007-12-09
17 May 2004 – 9 December 2007
2007-12-09
2004-05-17
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2004-05-17
Modern Figures
Collection based display
29 September 2004 – 15 May 2005
2005-05-15
29 September 2004 – 9 January 2005
2005-01-09
2004-09-29
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
12 February 2005 – 15 May 2005
2005-05-15
2005-02-12
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales (Cardiff, UK)
2004-09-29
Gwen John and Augustus John
Exhibition
16 October 2010 – 4 November 2012
2012-11-04
16 October 2010 – 4 November 2012
2012-11-04
2010-10-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-10-16
Gallery 10
Collection based display
14 December 2012 – 26 September 2022
2022-09-26
10 December 2012 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
2012-12-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-12-14
Gallery 4
Collection based display
10 February 2018 – 11 December 2018
2018-12-11
10 February 2018 – 29 April 2018
2018-04-29
2018-02-10
Tate St Ives (St Ives, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/
26 May 2018 – 16 September 2018
2018-09-16
2018-05-26
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK)
2 October 2018 – 11 December 2018
2018-12-11
2018-10-02
Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, UK)
http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk
2018-02-10
Virginia Woolf
Exhibition
26 May 2018 – 9 December 2018
2018-12-09
26 May 2018 – 16 September 2018
2018-09-16
2018-05-26
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK)
2 October 2018 – 9 December 2018
2018-12-09
2018-10-02
Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, UK)
http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk
2018-05-26
Virginia Woolf
Loan-out
9 March 2020 – 3 January 2021
2021-01-03
9 March 2020 – 3 January 2021
2021-01-03
2020-03-09
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-03-09
Gwen John
Collection based display
16 May 2024 – 13 October 2024
2024-10-13
16 May 2024 – 13 October 2024
2024-10-13
2024-05-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2024-05-16
Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920
Exhibition
7 February 2026 – 28 November 2027
2027-11-28
7 February 2026 – 28 June 2026
2026-06-28
2026-02-07
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales (Cardiff, UK)
1 August 2026 – 4 January 2027
2027-01-04
2026-08-01
National Galleries of Scotland (Edinburgh, UK)
18 February 2027 – 20 June 2027
2027-06-20
2027-02-18
Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, USA)
http://ycba.yale.edu/index.asp
30 July 2027 – 28 November 2027
2027-11-28
2027-07-30
National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington D.C, USA)
2026-02-07
Gwen John
Loan-out
Self-Portrait
support: 448 × 349 mm
frame: 565 × 465 × 65 mm
Purchased 1942
<div class="text">
<p>Gwen John trained at the Slade School of Art in London from 1895–1898. As a woman in an industry still largely dominated by men, John had to struggle for recognition. It has been suggested that the intense self-scrutiny of this image and her isolation, reflects her experiences as an artist. In recent years, John’s reputation has grown, and she is widely recognised for her intimate portraits and her subtle use of colour.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2019-02-05T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05366</b> SELF-PORTRAIT <i>c.</i> 1899–1900
<br/>
<br/>Inscr. ‘G.M.J.’ b.r.
<br/>Canvas, 17 5/8×13 3/4 (45·5×35·5).
<br/>Purchased from Miss Ellen Brown (Knapping Fund) 1942.
<br/><i>Coll:</i> Professor Fred Brown; bequeathed to his niece Miss Ellen Brown.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> (?) N.E.A.C., April 1900 (104); N.E.A.C., <i>Retrospective Exhibition</i>, January–February 1925 (65), and Manchester, April–May 1925 (304); <i>Meisterwerke Englischer Malerei</i> <i>aus Drei Jahrhunderten</i>, Secession, Vienna, September–November 1927 (157); Arts Council, <i>Ethel Walker, Frances Hodgkins, Gwen John</i>, Tate Gallery, May–June 1952 (102).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> John Rothenstein, <i>Modern English Painters: Sickert to Smith</i>, 1952, p.163.
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Burlington Magazine</i>, LXXXI, 1942, p.236; John Rothenstein, <i>The Tate Gallery</i>, 1958, p.102.</p>
<p>Said by people who knew the artist to be one of the best likenesses of her; probably painted soon after she left the Slade. It appears in the background of a self-<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> of Professor Fred Brown, dated 1920, now in the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull (repr. <i>Artwork</i>, No.23, 1930, p.151).</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-07T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults artist, painter arts and entertainment brooch clothing and personal items John, Gwen named individuals objects people portraits self-portraits woman work and occupations