Photograph: The Brown Collection
Photograph: The Brown Collection
Anna Zinkeisen British, 1901-1976
Portrait of a Nurse
Oil on canvas
61.2 x 51 cm (24 1/8 x 20 in)
The painting was likely produced during Zinkeisen’s tenure as a nursing auxiliary at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington during the Second World War. After her shifts, she used a disused...
The painting was likely produced during Zinkeisen’s tenure as a nursing auxiliary at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington during the Second World War. After her shifts, she used a disused operating theatre as a studio to record hospital scenes, air-raid victims and war injuries.
The flat application of paint on the subject’s face creates an unnaturally smooth, almost plastic surface, suggesting something mannequin-like. The subject's averted gaze and the deep background lend the work a subdued atmosphere.
This uncanny plasticity may hint at emotional detachment, as though the self is partially obscured behind a polished exterior. Although her expression implies feeling, it remains difficult to read, perhaps echoing the composure expected of medical staff working under extreme wartime pressure.
The flat application of paint on the subject’s face creates an unnaturally smooth, almost plastic surface, suggesting something mannequin-like. The subject's averted gaze and the deep background lend the work a subdued atmosphere.
This uncanny plasticity may hint at emotional detachment, as though the self is partially obscured behind a polished exterior. Although her expression implies feeling, it remains difficult to read, perhaps echoing the composure expected of medical staff working under extreme wartime pressure.