The Convalescent

Gwen John

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a woman sitting in a chair with her legs covered by her dress. She faces slightly left of us, looking down at something in her hands that could be a light gray sheet of paper. She has pale skin and long, dark, straight hair, and she is wearing a long, dark blue dress. A teacup and teapot are on the table beside her, in the bottom right corner of the painting. She appears to sit in a wooden chair with a cloth or blanket on the back, but the details are hard to determine. The background is textured beige with some spots of light orange. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and textured, with the paint applied in short strokes or dots. In some places, the beige color of the canvas is visible.