Artists, Siblings, Visionaries by Judith Mackrell review – the remarkable lives of Gwen and Augustus John

A young woman sits reading, a pot of tea to hand, her blue dress almost the only colour in a still, sandy room. Gwen John's painting The Convalescent shows a subdued yet happy moment, for this woman is free to think and feel. That, we see in Judith Mackrell's outstanding double biography of Gwen and her brother, was her ideal for living: to be at liberty even if that meant existing in deepest solitude.
The quietness of a life spent largely alone in single rooms, reading, drawing, painting and occasionally having wild sex with the sculptor Rodin, is counterpointed in this epic narrative by the crowded, relentless, almost insanely overstimulated life of Augustus John. Lion of the arts in early 20th-century Britain, he was a bigamist, adulterer, father of so many children you lose track (so did he), and an utterly forgettable painter.
Today, we take Gwen John's posthumous triumph over her brother for granted. While 'Gus' – as he was known in their childhood in Tenby, Wales, and to her always – was toweringly famous in his lifetime, portraitist of Lawrence of Arabia and James Joyce, he's dust now. Growing up in Wales, I liked his portrait of Dylan Thomas on the cover of a biography: curly-haired, baby-faced, rebellious. I didn't have any idea of the story behind it. As Mackrell relates, Augustus began a relationship with a teenager, Caitlin Macnamara, which she would come to see as abusive, punishing him by having a very physical flirtation with Thomas in front of him. Soon afterwards, she married the poet. Guilty and confused, Augustus would leave money in his coat pockets for the penniless couple to steal.
Augustus's exploitation of the future Caitlin Thomas is the only occasion Mackrell judges him. By this time, in the 1930s, we've had some jaw-dropping antics. Gwen and Augustus both studied at the Slade, the first British art school to admit women, in the 1890s. Gus married Ida Nettleship, also a Slade student and Gwen's friend. How romantic, except he rapidly fell for model Dorothy McNeill whom he rechristened 'Dorelia', persuading his wife to accept Dorelia in a menage that was to last until Ida died after giving birth to her and Augustus's fifth child. No one in their circle complained – except Ida's mother.
Gwen was no cardboard saint either. She shared her brother's belief that being an artist meant freedom from the Victorian bourgeois morality they'd been born into – Gwen in 1876, Augustus in 1878. All her life she would have sexual feelings for women as well as men. She persuaded Dorelia to sail to France with her and walk to Rome. They made it as far as Toulouse where Gwen portrayed her beautifully. In Dorelia in a Black Dress, she wears a flare of pink on her shoulder and gazes at us with unkempt hair and a subtle half smile. Even when it came to painting Augustus's muse, Gwen outdid her brother. His 1908-9 painting of Dorelia, Woman Smiling, was once acclaimed as a modern Mona Lisa but now looks ridiculous: Dorelia's grin is foolishly broad, she wears what Augustus saw as 'gypsy' garb and poses heftily in a pastiche of Rubens. It is Gwen who captures what made Dorelia magnetic.
That's easy for us to say and see. In the early 20th century it was Augustus who looked like the star. One reason is obvious: he was a man. He bounded on to the art scene, a good-looking youth who learned from his elder Whistler to wear memorable hats and an artist's beard, seducing women after training himself on a Belgian brothel tour, a rebel dandy who was fascinated by the Romany. Gwen was shy, introverted, hard to know. 'I don't pretend to know anybody well,' she confessed. 'People are like shadows to me and I am like a shadow.'
Augustus and Gwen had grown up together, both enthusiastic child artists, energetic thorns in the side of their widowed father. Is the contrast in their personalities the scar of gendered expectation? Mackrell goes far beyond a simplistic schema in mapping these lives. Gus is not a pantomime patriarchal villain, nor Gwen a feminist idol: they're human.
The brother had a captivating generosity while his sister could be a tricky customer. Gwen complained that Augustus wasn't replying to her letters at a time when Dorelia (who stayed with him for life) was ill and his son dying of meningitis. 'There was a streak of ruthless self-absorption in her,' Mackrell writes , 'a lack of charity and self-awareness.' Gus was quite supportive, but his own life was so complex, tragically so; he got distracted. One of the siblings' worst fallings-out was over Gwen's relationship with Rodin. When she confessed she was not only modelling nude for the great sculptor but sleeping with him, her brother expressed disgust that she was being used by this old man, 36 years her senior. Rodin told her she had un corps admirable.
Mackrell agrees. As a dance critic she brings an informed perspective to Gwen's work as a model, judging that her 'body, though small, was flexible and strong. She was elegantly proportioned, with small high breasts, narrow hips, long muscled legs, and a graceful neck – a woman who looked powerful in her nakedness.'
That nakedness is preserved in Rodin's plaster statue of her as a Muse, looking gravely downward, for his unfinished Monument to Whistler. Gwen John had stepped into modern art.
The story of these two lives is the story of British art in the early 20th century. Artists like Augustus, despite walking – and shagging – like avant gardists, just could not break out of the expectations of 'proper' painting demanded by the British public. In 1910, Van Gogh, Cézanne and other 'post-impressionists' were introduced to Britain in a show organised by Roger Fry. Augustus felt crushed by this shock of the new. Meanwhile, in her pared-down, conceptual images of women alone, Gwen in Paris was a born modernist.
Her affair with Rodin was the great relationship of her life. He filled her with joy and agony, then moved on. Friends, including the poet Rilke, tried to help. But it took God to fill the void. When Gwen converted to Catholicism, Augustus was again shocked, for they had both been atheistic rebels against their Baptist upbringing.
Gwen's life, from the outside, looked lonely, impoverished, eccentric, sad. She died after years of sickness at Dieppe in 1939, on a last trip to the sea, her burial site lost in the chaos of war. Yet her dedication to love, God and art seems fierce and wondrous now, her art a piercingly true autobiography. Meanwhile, Augustus is as slapdash in his paintings as his life.
Biography can be a glib genre, but Mackrell approaches her subjects with an almost novelistic sensibility. What is success, what is failure? This book raises big questions about how we can judge or know others.
One of Augustus's best paintings is a 1907 portrait of WB Yeats that gives the poet black, mystical eyes as if he's having a vision. I can't help wondering whether Yeats thought of him when he wrote that the artist 'is forced to choose / perfection of the life, or of the work'. This riot of a man believed he could have the two, and got neither. His sister, in her mystery, got both.
Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell is published by Picador (£30). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Times

27 minutes ago

• Times

The cocktail set to dethrone Aperol as spritz of the summer

Evoking memories of countryside rambles and summer fêtes, there can be few more quintessentially British flavours than elderflower. After years of underwhelming demand, sales of drinks infused with the taste are suddenly booming, boosted in particular by the sudden popularity of the Hugo spritz cocktail, which younger drinkers are turning to as an alternative to the stronger Aperol. Ocado has reported that demand for elderflower liqueur, a key ingredient in the cocktail, is up by 107 per cent year-on-year. Sales of elderflower cordial and elderflower sparking pressé are also rising, up nearly 50 per cent and 80 per cent respectively, according to the online supermarket. Elderflower comes from the elder tree (Sambucus nigra), which is native to much of Europe and particularly prevalent in the UK. It grows widely in hedgerows, woodlands and along roadsides and has long been associated with British cuisine. The revival in demand for the flavour coincides with an extended period of warm weather. As temperatures in much of Britain have hit the high twenties over the past few weeks, Hugo spritz videos have been going viral on social media. One video by a travel influencer, Juli Cuevas, which declares 2025 to be a 'Hugo spritz summer', has been viewed nearly three million times on TikTok. Many of the comments compare the cocktail favourably with the Aperol spritz, which is typically stronger and has a bitter taste whereas a Hugo is lighter and sweeter. Another video by 'The Wannabe Bartender' showing a guide on how to make a Hugo spritz, which includes prosecco, mint, soda water and lime, has been viewed 1.6 million times. In the video, Henrik Liverod, who has more than 350,000 followers, declares the Aperol spritz 'boring' and tells his viewers that they 'deserve better'. He describes the Hugo spritz as 'lit', slang for excellent or exciting. After drinking his creation, Liverod adds: 'It's summery, it's fresh, it's refreshing, it's mmm, it gives you an orgasm on your tastebuds.' • My evening with the app that finds the best pubs to catch the sun A spokesman for Ocado said elderflower was 'having a renaissance'. He added that the Hugo spritz offered a more 'homegrown take' on a summer cocktail because it was rooted in a 'British flavour'. The drink actually originates in South Tyrol, a German-speaking region in northern Italy. It is reported to have been invented in 2005 by a bartender, Roland Gruber, as a lighter alternative to the Aperol spritz. His original version included lemon balm syrup, often known as melissa syrup, which was later often substituted with elderflower syrup or St-Germain liqueur as the drink spread beyond the region. Gruber reportedly chose the name 'Hugo' simply because he liked how it sounded. My 'It drink' of the summer isn't a putrid orange Aperol or an elderflower cocktail, it's non-alcohol spritz made by Mother Root, which counts Nigella Lawson among its fans and sells in Waitrose for £27.95 a bottle. The British alcohol-free brand launched in 2019 and has been quietly converting cocktail lovers like me with its alcohol-free aperitifs ever since. It doesn't matter that they don't have booze in. They are delicious. I was won over by the limited edition marmalade flavour that first launched in 2023. Then I tried the ginger aperitif, made with apple cider vinegar, blossom honey and ginger and chilli, that came out last year. I'm not surprised it sold out on their website in 20 minutes (it's been restocked now, thank goodness) or that since launching in Waitrose in January, sales have soared by 80 per cent. What I am most excited about is their lovely new limited edition rhubarb flavour, which comes out on Wednesday and is a blend of rhubarb root and apple cider. It sounds delectable served as suggested: ice cold in a champagne flute with cold soda water. Even Nigella is vying for a bottle, eagerly commenting on the brand's Instagram page last week that she'd be ordering some. I will be joining her.

Times

27 minutes ago

• Times

Seven shows to watch after Death Valley

T he cosy, quirky crime drama Death Valley has been a new hit for the BBC in 2025, bringing in an overnight audience of 2.9 million for its opening episode in May and quickly growing a large and loyal fanbase. The murder mystery, written and created by Paul Doolan, is set and filmed in Wales, and achieved the largest audience for a BBC scripted comedy debut for more than five years. Starring Timothy Spall as a curmudgeonly retired actor who teams up with an eager young detective (Gwyneth Keyworth), the series follows the fortunes of the unlikely crimefighting pair as complex whodunnit capers unfold.

BBC News

4 hours ago

• BBC News

Stereophonics and Sting take to Isle of Wight stage

Stereophonics and Sting have wowed the crowds during their headline slots at the Isle of Wight Welsh rockers took to the main stage on Saturday having previously headlined the Newport event in 2004, 2009 and by lead singer Kelly Jones, Stereophonics played many of their most successful singles, including Have A Nice Day and performed a set of his greatest hits during a one-and-a-half-hour slot, starting with fan favourite Message In A Bottle. The former The Police frontman told the audience it was a "historic festival". He also played An Englishman in New York, Walking On The Moon and Every Breath You Take, coming back for an encore of Roxanne, which the crowds enthusiastically sang along finished with Fragile, the only acoustic song in the set. Some 55,000 partygoers have crossed the Solent to reach Seaclose Park for the four-day gates opened on Thursday, with tribute band The Smyths being the first act to take to the Big Top stage, which also featured The Pigeon Detectives, before headliner Example took taking to the main stage on Friday included Lottery Winners, Amy Macdonald, The Corrs and Faithless, while Clean Bandit headlined the Big Top. Appearing on the Big Top stage on Saturday were Mercury Prize winners English Teacher and Leeds-based Yard night was signed off by Oxford Britpop stars Supergrass, who played their first album I Should Coco in its entirety to celebrate the 30 years since it was singer Gaz Coombes said they had "loved making it", adding: "We loved all the madcap places it took us."Other bands appearing on the main stage on Saturday included The Script, Razorlight, Busted and Paul Heaton featuring Rianne Timberlake was closing the event on Sunday. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.