Model Yvonne Aubicq reads intently. Orpen shows the disarray of the model’s clothes, her wrinkled white stocking and the open handbag. Orpen observes the tension of limbs, the luminous touches on her body, and the blush of fingers and face. The head, tilted towards the viewer is skillfully captured with economy. The pose, for all its complexity, is natural and Orpen looks down at her in a warm caress. (http://books0977.tumblr.com/post/165173185552/nude-girl-reading-c1921-sir-william-orpen) By the winter of 1921 Major William Orpen had returned belatedly to civilian life.... For the exhausted artist, Paris, its Majestic and Astoria hotels, its cinemas, its hard-drinking press men and ease of access to his model/mistress, Yvonne Aubicq, provided respite.... [Such] pictures were intended to re-charge his batteries after months of ‘official’ portrait painting. See notes at http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/irish-art-l15134/lot.27.html for complete story.