Pinewoods (Under the pines)

The woman in this painting is Gwen Knight – a New Zealand artist who Frances Hodgkins met in St Tropez in 1931. Both women were spending the summer painting in the South of France. New Zealand artists Flora Scales and Maud Burge were also in St Tropez at the same time. Burge and her husband George had rented a villa in the town, and Hodgkins often spent the days at their house working. In the 1920s and 1930s St Tropez was a favourite destination for artists from around the world. Hodgkins wrote to her friend Dorothy Selby, in June 1931 "The air is thick with artists…".

Gwen Knight has described the experience of sitting for this watercolour. The two women were at a picnic, and she was lying on the ground. Hodgkins asked her not to move, before very quickly sketching her in watercolour. According to Knight, Hodgkins would typically spend a lot of time looking at and studying her subject, before painting quickly in firm, confident brushstrokes.

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