This is 'Self Portrait' by the American artist Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989). She painted this in 1946, when she was 28. The book is obviously a sketchbook. I like this. I love what you can see of the room which gives you an idea of the way they lived (her husband was also a painter, Willem de Kooning) -- vey informal, with pictures they like pinned on the wall. Nice colours. Altogether very charming. And is that a real cat looking at her from the mantelpiece, or a fake one?
