Image: Modern Two, London
Modern Two will open ‘Gwen John: Strange Beauties’ on Saturday 1 August, as the National Galleries of Scotland marks 150 years since the artist’s birth. The exhibition is billed as the first major retrospective in over forty years dedicated to Gwen John, one of Wales’ most accomplished artists.
According to the gallery’s announcement, the exhibition will trace John’s work from her early years in Wales to her late paintings and drawings shaped by her religious beliefs, French modernism, and her surroundings in the Parisian suburb of Meudon. The presentation will include rarely seen drawings and watercolours, many shown for the first time, offering a closer view of the artist’s working range.
John’s reputation has long rested on a relatively small but distinctive body of work, and the retrospective frames that output through a wide chronological lens. By bringing together early and late material, ‘Gwen John: Strange Beauties’ places emphasis on development as well as on the recurring interests that shaped her practice over time. The source material highlights a “quiet yet determined artistic vision,” a description used by the National Galleries of Scotland in its promotional text for the show.
The exhibition also appears in the context of the National Galleries of Scotland’s wider public-facing programme, which includes online retail and publishing material linked to John’s work. The newsletter promoting the show points readers to a ‘Gwen John: Strange Beauties’ book, along with merchandise such as a ‘Flowers in a Jug’ pencil tin and an ‘A Young Nun’ art print. These related items sit alongside the exhibition notice but are separate from the main presentation at Modern Two.
The show’s title and scope suggest an effort to foreground the unusual qualities associated with John’s imagery, while the selection of seldom exhibited works indicates that the retrospective may draw on material not regularly available to the public. The source text does not provide a full checklist of works, curatorial credits, or interpretive themes beyond the artist’s Welsh beginnings, religious beliefs, French modernist influences, and Meudon setting.
‘Gwen John: Strange Beauties’ will run at Modern Two from 1 August to 1 November 2026. The venue is listed as Modern Two in the event information provided by the National Galleries of Scotland.
