"In 1942, at the height of his fame, Augustus John predicted that 'fifty years after my death I shall be remembered as Gwen John's brother'. Gwen John (1876-1939) is indeed now recognised as a great artistic innovator, yet for years her life remained shrouded in the myth of the solitary recluse. Born in Pembrokeshire, Gwen followed her brother to the Slade.

She would always be bound up with Augustus, his women and his coteries, yet she was also daring and highly original, living determinedly in her own way." "Based on her lively and passionate unpublished letters, and copiously illustrated, this new biography challenges our prejudices about the ways we evaluate women artists and finally uncovers the life of this ardent and complicated personality."--BOOK JACKET.