Gwen John

Gwendolen Mary John was a Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career. Her paintings, mainly portraits of anonymous female sitters, are rendered in a range of closely related tones. Although she was overshadowed during her lifetime by her brother Augustus John, her reputation has grown steadily since her death.

Gwen John was born in Haverfordwest, Wales, the second of four children of Edwin William John and his wife Augusta . Gwens elder brother was Thornton John her younger siblings were Augustus and Winifred. Edwin John was a solicitor whose dour temperament cast a chill over his family, and Augusta was often absent from the children owing to ill health, leaving her two sistersstern Salvationiststo take her place in the household. Augusta was an amateur watercolourist, and both parents encouraged the childrens interest in literature and art. Her mother died when she was eight years of age. Regarding her mothers death and the loss of her influence, her brother, Augustus, later wrote My mother would no doubt have been helpful, but she died when I was a small child, after, I fear, a very tearful existence.

Source: Wikipedia