Untitled 

Curator: Gwen John’s "Untitled" presents us with an intriguing portrait rendered with oil paints, though its date remains a mystery to us. I must say, the immediate sense is one of profound quiet. The colors, mostly muted blues and greys, lend a somber tone. What's your initial feeling, knowing nothing else about the work? Editor: Yes, "quiet" absolutely resonates. I'm drawn to the vertical composition and its implied formality. The subject sits centered, but there’s a beautiful tension between her direct gaze and the almost dissolving background. I want to discuss this quiet and what makes the art, not only pretty, but aesthetically fascinating. Curator: The sitter's gaze holds a certain ambivalence, wouldn’t you agree? It's there, it is honest, but evasive somehow. One wonders what John wanted to convey about this person and if this resonates more broadly on representations of womanhood. I see more than simple quietude: an intimate, reflective inner state. Editor: Certainly, that interiority is compelling, but technically, the blending is superb—notice the softness around the edges of the figure, and that juxtaposition of sharp realism that constitutes its undeniable tension. Curator: Precisely! John often left areas seemingly unfinished, inviting the viewer to complete the narrative. She did, didn't she, play with the idea of what’s concealed versus revealed, inner and outer. But she certainly lets us look—which I think she often gives as the gift in her practice of rendering the feminine. The figure cradles a small book, hinting, perhaps, at intellectual or spiritual pursuits. Editor: I concur. Let's analyze the placement of the hands as well. How it holds the green book which disrupts all color codes, the very material reality that holds and projects intellectual pursuits. Curator: It adds such texture to an overall muted color scheme. I feel drawn, then, not just into John's style, her palette of color, her style, her subjects—but she brings up into an invitation. Her perspective isn’t an assertion—rather a proposition to let be. Editor: So while I appreciate that sense of gentle "letting be" that this artwork, so to speak, exudes through Gwen John, the formal devices here speak quite loudly, don't they? The considered placement, and then its contrasting lack of specificity speak volumes beyond, don't you think, what the simple reading suggests. Curator: That contrast is beautiful.