The brim of her hat loops to make a shadow, the better to show her gaunt profile. Strands of hair writhe against her cheek and complement a fur stole on her shoulder. In 1923 Otto Dix went to Düsseldorf to learn new printing skills, including lithography which would show his drawing skills to better effect. He made a series of character studies, including this affecting portrayal of a pale woman reduced almost to a shadow of herself. Eyes closed to the exquisite world represented by those materials set out by the artist, she seems scarcely aware.

Photograph courtesy of: the Archive of Modern Conflict, London