Wyndham Lewis' portrait shows the British poet and critic Edith Sitwell seated with half-closed eyes and with bookshelves in the background.

The art critic Paul Edwards says it seems to follow the dictum laid out in Lewis' novel Tarr (1918), which "explains that works of art have no 'inside', no 'restless ego' living in their interior, having instead a kind of 'dead' version of living through their forms and surfaces alone".

He was at the time close to the wealthy Sitwells and hoped to develop a long-term relationship where they would support him financially.

According to Edith Sitwell, she modelled for six days a week during a period of ten months, but Lewis' "manner became so threatening" that she stopped, which is why the portrait has no hands.

[1] Lewis abandoned work on the painting in October 1923, when he was unable to pay the rent for his studio and had to leave it.