Mrs. Atkinson (Gwen John)

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Mrs. Atkinson
Mrs. Atkinson MET 1979.135.27.jpg
Artist Gwen John   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Yearc. 1897
Medium Oil paint, panel
Dimensions30.5 cm (12.0 in) × 31.1 cm (12.2 in)
Location Metropolitan Museum of Art
Accession No.1979.135.27  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Identifiers The Met object ID: 481922

Mrs. Atkinson is a painting (portrait) by Gwen John. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [1]

Description and interpretation

The work depicts John's cleaning woman, Mrs. Atkinson, sitting in a room covered with flocked wallpaper. [2] There is a sheep skull on the mantelpiece, though this is not thought to have symbolic meaning. [3]

Simon Schama writes that she is "glancing anxiously sideways, uncertain of what is wanted of her." [2] The painting was exhibited at the New English Art Club in the spring of 1900, marking a strong phase of her career that also saw her Self-portrait on display there about that time. [3] It is considered among the "carefully executed tonal paintings of rather detailed genre subjects" in her first mature oil works. [4]

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References

  1. "Mrs. Atkinson". Metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art . Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  2. 1 2 Schama, Simon (2016). The Face of Britain: A History of the Nation Through Its Portraits. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780190621896.
  3. 1 2 Taubman, Mary (1985). Gwen John, the artist and her work. Cornell University Press. p. 24. ISBN   9780801418945.
  4. Gaze, Delia (2013-04-03). Concise Dictionary of Women Artists. Routledge. p. 386. ISBN   9781136599019.