Martha Hirsch, depicted in this portrait by Oskar Kokoschka, had married the industrialist Wilhelm Hirsch in September of 1908. This picture was painted soon after the birth of their son, Richard, the following summer. Although she was only 22 years old at the time, her faraway expression and contorted hands suggest weariness. Perhaps she found the portrait sittings disconcerting. Likewise, the artist may have sensed her struggle to cope with the stresses of marriage and motherhood.

When the canvas was first publicly unveiled in 1910, it was dubbed “Die verträumte Frau,” or “the Dreaming Woman.” One critic at the time described the sitter as “an unhappy woman—pale, nervous, careworn—with demonic, bovine eyes squinting from depression.”

Most of the background is covered with a sheer layer of pigment, in contrast to the shadow looming behind her. This dark shape is concentrated around her head and shoulders, perhaps a visualization of the concerns placed upon her frail frame. Crimson touches add another expressive element, highlighting her hair, face and lips, trailing along the edges of her sleeves, even staining her fingers blood red.

Martha Hirsch and her husband were not satisfied with the results of this commission and they opted not to purchase the painting. Instead, architect Adolf Loos was the first owner. Loos notably deserves credit for convincing Kokoschka to abandon his interest in the decorative arts in order to pursue portraiture, and he went on to be one of the most innovative Austrian Expressionist artists of his generation working in this genre.