A Girl's Head - G Possibly 1919

Curator: This is Augustus John's "A Girl's Head - G," likely created around 1919, rendered as a print. What strikes you about it? Editor: Those eyes. There's a sharpness to them that challenges the soft curls framing her face. It feels…intimate, almost confrontational. Curator: Intimacy is key, I think. John was renowned for capturing the essence of his subjects. This particular piece, with its delicate lines and reliance on light and shadow, certainly conveys an air of immediacy, a glimpse into a fleeting moment. Her piercing gaze holds our gaze across a century. Editor: Do you see any recurring symbolic associations that echo in his wider body of work? Does this portrait feel like it fits a pattern? Curator: The artist was a famous portraitist during his career, especially noted for sensitive, swift portraits like this. He could complete works quickly and achieve very high prices for his portrait commissions. John tended to be interested in those at the social margins, so a frank, perhaps confrontational tone such as we notice here might indeed resonate throughout the body of his art. What did the artist want the world to know or understand by conveying this intensity of gaze? Editor: I think that intensity is important, and in the early 20th century, this kind of art put viewers face-to-face with rapidly transforming realities in the western world. This etching seems determined not to allow for escapism; the model is meeting us as equals. Curator: Right, and the print medium itself—its capacity for reproduction and dissemination—opens up avenues for this image, this representation of "girlhood," to circulate, influence, and perhaps even challenge established social narratives of the time. Editor: Ultimately, it leaves me contemplating the power of simple lines to evoke such a complex emotional response, and thinking more widely about representation of genders throughout his career. Curator: Indeed, and in its stark simplicity, it compels us to look, really look, at the individuals often rendered invisible by history, and their unique presence and point of view in art and in society.