Celia Brunel, Lady Noble was the granddaughter of Isambard Kingdom Brunel who built the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS 'Great Britain'. Celia and her husband met the French painter, Jacques Emile Blanche, at a London dinner party. Attracted by her ‘strange beauty’ he painted her several times and also introduced Sickert to her. Sickert despised professional portrait painters, describing them as 'the wriggle-and-chiffon school'. He nevertheless produced powerful portraits throughout his life. Here he has used thick paint and lively brushstrokes to capture his elegant sitter’s features in a moment of thought.