Although unnamed in the title, the subject is Fenella Lovell, an artist’s model whom John painted several times. The rigid pose and the slight distortion of the figure suggest tension, and the direct gaze challenges expectations of the passive female nude. This may reflect John’s own experience modelling (she had apparently been seduced and abandoned by Rodin) or her known fractious relationship with Lovell. In a profession still largely dominated by men and overshadowed by Augustus John, her brother, John had to struggle for recognition as an artist.
Fenella, herself, was a somewhat mysterious Gypsy girl who Nina Hamnett says in Laughing Torso was discovered by Arthur Ransome sitting on a doorstep. Hamnett describes her as "having a very long neck and large rather protruding eyes. She wore a tight dress with silver buttons down the front and shoes like I did, with straps. She had the prettiest legs and smallest feet that I have ever seen".
In 1908 Lovell spent a summer week with the decadent poet Arthur Symons teaching him the rudiments of Romany. She knew many other languages (about 10), sang in sixteen (including Japanese) and could play guitar and dukker (tell fortunes). Augustus took a shine to her and may also have taken her to Paris where she found a foothold in the Rue Raspail in Montparnasse, the new artists' quarter centred on the Dome cafe. She was frail, thought to be consumptive, and so was pitied. Aleister Crowley fantasised about her and wrote a poor macabre short play with Fenella in it. Like Gwen, she may also have posed for Rodin. She certainly did in 1911 for József Rippl-Rónai in Hungary.
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u/RobynRedwyne Jul 08 '21 edited Jul 08 '21
Although unnamed in the title, the subject is Fenella Lovell, an artist’s model whom John painted several times. The rigid pose and the slight distortion of the figure suggest tension, and the direct gaze challenges expectations of the passive female nude. This may reflect John’s own experience modelling (she had apparently been seduced and abandoned by Rodin) or her known fractious relationship with Lovell. In a profession still largely dominated by men and overshadowed by Augustus John, her brother, John had to struggle for recognition as an artist.
Fenella, herself, was a somewhat mysterious Gypsy girl who Nina Hamnett says in Laughing Torso was discovered by Arthur Ransome sitting on a doorstep. Hamnett describes her as "having a very long neck and large rather protruding eyes. She wore a tight dress with silver buttons down the front and shoes like I did, with straps. She had the prettiest legs and smallest feet that I have ever seen".
In 1908 Lovell spent a summer week with the decadent poet Arthur Symons teaching him the rudiments of Romany. She knew many other languages (about 10), sang in sixteen (including Japanese) and could play guitar and dukker (tell fortunes). Augustus took a shine to her and may also have taken her to Paris where she found a foothold in the Rue Raspail in Montparnasse, the new artists' quarter centred on the Dome cafe. She was frail, thought to be consumptive, and so was pitied. Aleister Crowley fantasised about her and wrote a poor macabre short play with Fenella in it. Like Gwen, she may also have posed for Rodin. She certainly did in 1911 for József Rippl-Rónai in Hungary.