Portrait of Molly MacCarthy

Molly Warre-Cornish married the writer and critic Desmond MacCarthy in 1906. A close personal friend of Vanessa's, this is the first of three portraits Bell made of her at Asheham House, Sussex, in late September 1912. In each the pose is very similar; an intimate moment with the sitter concentrating on her sewing, the present work painted on a wood panel. The third version (private collection, London) is almost entirely carried out in collage.