Poging GOUD - Vrij

Quiet genius and torment...the story of a tortured artist

The Independent

|

July 07, 2025

Under the shadow of her brother Augustus, Gwen John and her paintings remain relatively unknown. Robert McCrum looks at a troubled relationship, as explored in a new book

- Robert McCrum

Quiet genius and torment...the story of a tortured artist

As recently as 1974, scarcely a decade after his death, the artist Augustus John received the kind of tribute reserved for a great British national treasure: a two-volume life by the premier biographer of the age, Michael Holroyd, who was already renowned for his life of Lytton Strachey.

Accompanied by the media hoopla of the moment - lavish Sunday newspaper serialisation, breathless TV coverage, hundreds of column inches in the broadsheets, and immense global sales - it was the kind of celebrity bonanza that impinged on this reviewer as a student. I still possess a dogeared copy of volume one, replete with embarrassing marginalia.

Barely a generation after that astonishing, even ridiculous, outpouring of sentimental enthusiasm over the “genius” of a philandering Edwardian self-promoter, the 21st century now takes its inevitable revenge on the past in Judith Mackrell’s belated second look at the artist John, and at his (to us) neglected sister, a woman whose place in the British art scene is still a work in progress.

It’s a haunting, melancholy tale of talented siblings whose gifts got lost in the fever of the times. He was overpraised, whereas she was underrated; he lived his life in public, and died full of self-loathing; she cultivated solitude, in answer to her brother’s fame, and died in utter obscurity. At least in its origins, though, their story is a shared one, beginning with the horror of their provincial childhood in Wales.

image

MEER VERHALEN VAN The Independent

The Independent

The Independent

Thatcher and Farage high on Tory conference agenda

Having been virtually invisible during recent fierce arguments between Labour and Reform UK, the Conservatives have an opportunity to remind voters of their existence as their annual conference takes place in Manchester from Sunday.

time to read

4 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Mother 'influenced' dying daughter to reject chemo

A University of Cambridge graduate who died after refusing chemotherapy was “adversely influenced” by her mother’s conspiracy theory views, an inquest has concluded.

time to read

4 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Two dead, three hurt after terror attack at Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur

Knifeman named as Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was fatally shot within seven minutes of rampage starting on Jewish holy day

time to read

3 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Nirvana album cover child abuse case dismissed again

The man who appeared as a naked baby on a Nirvana album cover has had his lawsuit against the grunge rock band thrown out for a second time.

time to read

1 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Praying mantises ‘may have blown over from Europe’

Praying mantises have been spotted in the wild in England, with experts suggesting they may have been “blown over” from mainland Europe.

time to read

1 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Goodness, Greta, what's the point of your Gaza flotillas?

In common with many, I suspect, I have been tracking the progress of the 40-ship Global Sumud Flotilla since it left Barcelona a month ago, with campaigner-for-everything Greta Thunberg as its standard-bearer.

time to read

3 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

New scandal after Met cops offensive comments filmed

The Metropolitan Police has been hit with a fresh scandal over claims of racism and misogyny after officers at a London police station were secretly filmed making offensive comments and bragging about using violence.

time to read

4 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Badenoch takes swipe at possible challenger Jenrick

Robert Jenrick's thoughts are just “my thoughts repackaged”, Kemi Badenoch has said in what appears to be a swipe at her main rival ahead of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester this weekend.

time to read

2 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

The Independent

Russia's deadly missile upgrade a 'game-changer'

Russia appears to have upgraded its ballistic missiles in use against Ukraine to bypass US-made Patriot air defence systems, according to a report.

time to read

2 mins

October 03, 2025

The Independent

French arrest captain of Russian ‘shadow fleet’ ship

Oil tanker was off the Danish coast during drone incursions

time to read

2 mins

October 03, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size