This self-portrait shows a light-skinned young woman seated indoors against a softly muted interior background. She gazes quietly outward, yet avoids our gaze. Her features are soft in warm tones, with cheekbones and a straight nose defined through subtle light and shadow. Under a large brown hat, her wavy auburn hair frames her face without drawing attention. She wears a plain, cream-colored dress with long flared lace sleeves and a black boa draped around her neck and side held in place with her right hand to expose a small wristwatch. Compositionally balanced, the artist’s face is centered and illuminated against the gently textured backdrop. The overall mood is calm, introspective, and quietly confident, as if the artist is considering her own reflection with a steady yet gentle gaze. English artist Lucinda Louise Mackay’s 1971 self portrait was painted at a time when Women’s Liberation was beginning to make a mark. She portrays herself as a somewhat alternatively fashion-conscious young woman of her time. Her long, casually dishevelled hair is complemented by the sensuously shaggy feather boa. The brushwork evokes gradations of grey and black as the boa variously catches the light. The pale features are painted immaculately as to appear initially like those of an antique porcelain doll, although there is nothing remotely doll-like in the artist’s still, self-assertive look. The prominent watch on her upraised right wrist may act as some kind of memento mori, marking the passage of time, passing of youth. Curiously, the colors Mackay wears are traditional, archetypal western colors of the wedding dress and of mourning. Mackay, raised in Scotland and trained at Edinburgh College of Art, uses controlled brushwork and measured tonal shifts to anticipate poised realism. The canvas doubles as personal record and cultural document: a young woman artist looking steadily at a collecting system learning to see her.

Self Portrait by Lucinda Louise Mackay (English) - Oil on canvas / 1971 - Ruth Borchard Collection (London, England) #WomenInArt #artText #WomanArtist #art #LucindaLouiseMackay #artwork #WomensArt #Mackay #PortraitofaWoman #EnglishArtist #LucindaMackay #bskyart #RuthBorchardCollection #RuthBorchard