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Lot Essay
The present work relates to David and Dorelia in Normandy (1908, The Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) (fig. 1) which shows Dorelia with David, Augustus's and Ida's eldest son. The present view depicts Dorelia standing alone on the same shore, wearing the plum coloured dress and green shawl. It was a particularly poignant time for the artist as it was only shortly after Ida's death. The location has been identified as Dielette, near Cherbourg in Normandy. Augustus had brought four of Ida's sons to France to be raised by Dorelia.
In discussing the outdoor sketches which he completed at this time Augustus commented, 'I employed with advantage the method of restricting my palette to the three primary colours represented by ultramarine, crimson lake and cadmium, with green oxide of chromiun' (A. John, Chiaroscuro: Fragments of Autobiography: First Series, London, 1942, p. 87).
David and Dorelia in Normandy was shown at the major retrospective of Augustus and Gwen John's work at Tate Britain, September 2004 - January 2005.
In discussing the outdoor sketches which he completed at this time Augustus commented, 'I employed with advantage the method of restricting my palette to the three primary colours represented by ultramarine, crimson lake and cadmium, with green oxide of chromiun' (A. John, Chiaroscuro: Fragments of Autobiography: First Series, London, 1942, p. 87).
David and Dorelia in Normandy was shown at the major retrospective of Augustus and Gwen John's work at Tate Britain, September 2004 - January 2005.