Artwork Information

A nude that was also a self-portrait was uncommon in the 1930s. Mitzie Price explained that her cousin took up the practice as she had great difficulty securing models, so ‘She used to strip in front of a mirror.’ Adding that it, ‘Probably shocked the hell out of [her Mother].’ Unlike the usually passive nude model, White takes an active role, recording herself in the act of painting. Interestingly Rita Angus also completed a number of nude self-portrait drawings about 1940. (Intimate Portraits, 2005)