Gwen John is a master painter of portraits. Her works, which mostly depict anonymous women, convey a sense of deep loneliness. In this painting, a woman stares off into some unknown location, hands folded reservedly in her lap. She is swallowed up by her black robes—we wonder if someone has just died. The watery, distant look in her eyes appears to confirm this. The wallpaper behind her is a warm, speckled orange, contrasting her somber appearance. On the mantle of the fireplace rests an ominous skull. We get the sense that this woman, while aware of being painted, is so removed and lost within herself that her subject-hood hardly makes a difference. This woman is used to being looked at; it is nothing new or remarkable. She is not glamorous, nor especially beautiful. Rather than painting women as objects to be ogled at, John paints people—in all of their complexity and loneliness.