Literature: Llewellyn, Sacha, et al. Women Only Works on Paper. Liss Llewellyn, 2021, p. 35.

Frances Hodgkins sought to achieve a balance in her pictures between likeness and abstract qualities of colour and form. This is evident in the bold blue and brown outlines of the boy’s face in this picture. Colours are blurred together or show through later layers of paint. The effect is to create a rich surface, though the colours themselves are fairly subdued.

Although originally from New Zealand, Hodgkins spent much of her life in Europe. She lived for several years in France, where she saw art by Henri Matisse and was impressed by the flowing line and sensuous colour of his early figure paintings. Her talents were recognised in Paris when she became one of the first women to teach watercolour painting at the prestigious Académie Colarossi. She also exhibited many times at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In 1929, Hodgkins joined the avant-garde 7&5 group of artists based in St Ives, Cornwall.