Obsession in Love: A Psychobiographical Study of Gwen John’s Passion for Auguste Rodin

Gwen John (1876–1939) is now widely considered one of the best Welsh artists, though in her lifetime she lived largely in the shadow of two flamboyant and highly successful male artists – her younger brother Augustus John and her older lover, the world-renowned sculptor, Auguste Rodin. The focus of this article is her obsessive, often tumultuous affair with Rodin which began when she was 28 and he was 64. The method used in the research is psychobiography, using psychological theory to probe behind the facts of her life as an artist in order to understand what sort of person she was and what motives and values lay behind the life choices she made. The article sets out the impact on Gwen of the loss of her mother when Gwen was eight, and her struggles to find an emotional equilibrium while at the Slade School of Fine Art. The main psychological theory used in the analysis is limerence, a comparatively new term which describes a state of manic love or total obsession with one’s lover. Her love affair with Rodin is set out in accordance with the five stages of limerence, which I call readiness, epiphany, addiction, dissipation and rebuilding. The study opens up a number of questions about obsessive love, including the dividing line between positive passion and harmful obsession and the possibility of a positive side to obsessive devotion.