Augustus John Welsh , 1878-1961

‘I feel inclined to start something fresh and new.’ So wrote Augustus John to fellow artist Will Rothenstein in April 1907, in the period just before the present work ‘Two Irish Girls’ was painted.

During the first years of the twentieth century, John was at the heart of avant garde painting in England. In 1907, he was living in Paris and wrote to Henry Lamb, ‘I saw a young artist called Picasso whose work is wonderful’, having visited his studio and seeing ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’, recognising and excited by the ground breaking nature of Picasso’s work very early on.

In his biography of John, Michael Holroyd writes, ‘(John) was greatly impressed by Picasso’s work, chiefly because, like his own, it was steeped in the past, drew part of its inspiration from Puvis de Chavannes, and revealed elements derived from remote antiquity or the art forms of primitive peoples’.

In September of 1907, John was invited to Ireland to paint the portrait of W B Yeats and it is whilst there he found the subject for ‘Two Irish Girls’. Showing the influence of both Picasso and Puvis de Chavannes, the paintings produced at this time were to be the most radical of John’s career.

‘Two Irish Girls’ was acquired by the influential collector of modern paintings, Sir Cyril Kendall Butler sometime around 1910. He was a founder of the Contemporary Art Society, and works from his collection by Stanley Spencer and William Roberts are now in the collection of the Tate Gallery.

In this artwork, two young Irish girls are depicted in a moment of quiet contemplation, their figures occupying the center of the composition. Their faces are rendered with sensitivity and nuance, capturing the unique characteristics and personalities of each girl. Despite their relative youth, there is a maturity and resilience evident in their expressions, hinting at the experiences and emotions that lie beneath the surface.

John's brushwork is bold and dynamic, with fluid, gestural strokes that animate the figures and bring them to life. The texture of the paint adds depth and dimension to the portrait, enhancing the sense of realism and immediacy. The background, kept relatively simple, allows the girls to stand out as the focal point of the composition, emphasizing their importance within the frame.

The use of color is particularly effective in "Two Irish Girls," with warm, earthy tones dominating the palette, evoking the rich landscape and culture of Ireland. The interplay of light and shadow adds depth and complexity to the portrait, accentuating the girls' features and adding to the overall mood of the piece. John captures not only the girls' physical likeness but also their spirit and vitality, allowing their unique personalities to shine through in every brushstroke.