Young Woman in a Checkered Dress

Alfred Aaron Wolmark, 1877–1961

ca. 1910

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A young woman with long, dark hair and a checkered dress is depicted in a close-up portrait. She wears a dark hat with a decorative band and looks downwards with a gentle expression. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Alfred Wolmark moved to Britain when he was about six years old. He lived first in Devon, and then in the Jewish East End of London. In the 1900s, he painted many images exploring Jewish culture, adopting the somber tones of his hero, Rembrandt. Following a holiday in France in 1911, he adopted a dramatic new approach, embracing the vibrant colors and thick, fluid brushstrokes of contemporary French artists such as Henri Matisse. This method attracted derision from Walter Sickert, who declared in 1914 that “People talk of not being able to see the wood through the trees. You cannot see Mr. Wolmark’s picture’s