A masterwork of Auerbach's intensely physical approach to painting, this portrait of his longtime model and muse Juliet Yardley Mills emerges from thick, heavily worked layers of oil paint applied and scraped back over numerous sessions. The figure is rendered through urgent, gestural marks that simultaneously dissolve and reconstruct the human form, capturing both the weight of a physical presence and the energy of the artist's searching process. Rich, earthy tones and dense impasto create a surface that feels almost sculptural, reflecting Auerbach's relentless commitment to seeing and re-seeing his subject anew.