In contrast to Duncan Grant’s portrait of Vanessa Bell (shown nearby), in which Bell is lying wearily on an armchair, this bold self-portrait shows the artist leaning forward and confronting the viewer with her gaze. Almost filling the frame, Bell reduces the room to an assemblage of abstract shapes. She was one of the first British artists to produce purely abstract paintings in the years before the First World War, responding in part to the exhibition of postimpressionist art that was held in London in December 1910. Bell was especially impressed by the works of Henri Matisse, whose bright palette and use of strong, simple outlines probably influenced this painting. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016