In talking, shyness and timidity distort the very meaning of my words. I don't pretend to know anybody well. People are like shadows to me and I am like a shadow.

Her early paintings such as the Portrait of the Artist's Sister Winifred (ca. She also met Maritain's sister-in-law Véra Oumançoff with whom Gwen John formed her last romantic relationship which lasted until 1930.

Her paintings mainly portraits of anonymous female sitters are rendered in a range of closely related tones. Gwendolen Mary John (22 June 1876 – 18 September 1939) was a Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career.