"Cooke was in her late twenties when she painted this self-portrait.... ‘Spare and lyrical’ is a term that keenly evokes this c.1955 self-portrait. Here, a disquietingly intense female figure is seen against a thinly-applied, greyish-yellow background. The work has obsessive notes of quite shocking freshness within a rather cool, abstract overall composition. The dark top or sweater, the long, brown hair, the huge, staring eyes, boldly ..." http://ruthborchard.org.uk/collection/jean-cooke/