Motesiczky left Vienna with her mother, Henriette, in 1938. They settled in England in 1939 and remained there for the rest of their lives. Henriette became Motesiczky’s favourite model in her later years when they lived in a big house in Hampstead. Here, Henriette, who would have been about 93, is shown in the garden. The painting was preceded by an unusually large number of sketches.