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Purchased by Gwendoline Davies in 1916 together with the Self-Portrait, this work was probably executed in Chelsea in 1911. John first met Dorelia McNeill in 1903 through his sister Gwen John. This work is an exceptionally fresh study drawn in pencil directly on its unprimed plywood support. The blue background and mauve dress were speedily blocked in and the flesh and hair tones added before the previous pigment had dried. John's small panel A Girl in Purple, also depicting Dorelia, was the most progressive work in An Exhibition of Works by Certain Modern Artists of Welsh Birth or Extraction in Cardiff in 1913-14.

This art work is part of Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales exhibition which is touring the United States until August 2010. More information...