Germann
Two Women, 1948
Pen-and-ink drawing.
Original catalogue wording
Two Women, 1948
Tuschfeder-Zeichnung.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Madge Gill
Born : 1882Died : 1961Documented citizenships : United Kingdom
Madge Gill (1882–1961), a British artist born Maude Ethel Eades, spent most of her life in London’s East End. Placed at the Dr Barnardo’s orphanage in Barkingside at the age of nine, she was sent to Canada five years later, where she worked as a domestic servant and childcare provider on farms in Ontario. Returning to London at eighteen, she worked as a nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital, then married her cousin Tom Gill in 1907; the couple had three sons. According to her biography, she came into contact with her spiritual guide, Myrninerest, on 3 March 1920. She associated this relationship with a practice that included drawing, writing, knitting, crochet, weaving and piano; Myrninerest’s signature regularly appears on her drawings. Drawing in ink became her principal medium. She worked on postcards, sheets of paper or cardboard, as well as long rolls of untreated calico, while also making richly decorated cushions, quilts and dresses.
In 1932, she took part for the first time in the annual exhibition of East End amateur artists organised by the Whitechapel Gallery. She presented *Reincarnation*, a roll of calico densely worked in coloured ink, which attracted the attention of the national press. She exhibited at the Whitechapel Gallery every year until 1947. After her death, a retrospective was devoted to her at the Grosvenor Gallery in London in 1968. A selection of her works, including the calico *The Crucifixion of the Soul*, featured in the exhibition *Outsiders* at the Hayward Gallery in 1979; an exhibition devoted to the artist was also held at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1982. Her works are held, among other places, at the Collection de l’Art brut in Lausanne and in the Aracine Collection in Lille.
This profile brings together identity references for Madge Gill and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
4 references are documented at Germann, DognyAuction, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Works recorded at auction
DognyAuction
Un personnage en haut à droite
encre — Madge GILL (1882-1961), "Un personnage en haut à droite", circa 1953, encre sur papier
Date to be documented
Published result : 5744 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
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Germann
Woman, 1950
Pen-and-ink drawing.
Original catalogue wording
Woman, 1950
Tuschfeder-Zeichnung.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Piguet
Femme émanant d'un univers fantastique
Ink on cardboard
Original catalogue wording
Femme émanant d'un univers fantastique
encre sur carton
Catalogue period : 2014-10-08
Published result : 6000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Sources and references
- Reference record
- LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
- Documentary source
- Documentary source
- Documentary source
SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19