The portrait of Dr. Whitehead was an early commission, painted when Christine moved back to her home town of Bournemouth after her divorce; see the Biography for details. She was very pleased to land the commission and hoped that it would get her foot in the door with the more affluent segment of local society. This didn’t exactly happen and she continued to struggle to make a living from her portrait commissions.

I think this portrait is very interesting for being a profile as opposed to the usual full face view. The use of palette knife and the broad planes of color amplify the doctor’s strong features and personality.

I’m sure Christine would have preferred to do a larger painting; this small size is likely to be a result of her pricing structure at the time and probably the smallest she would be willing to paint. But as she was just starting, she did not have a sufficient portfolio to encourage clients to make the investment into a larger canvas.