It depicts his first wife, the opera singer Minna Beckmann-Tube, and was executed in 1910.

[1] The painting depicts Minna, also known as Mink, seated in a chair, wearing a black dress, with a violet shawl covering her shoulders and arms, her hands folded, while she looks quietly to her left.

The portrait was executed during the painter's twenties, when he was openly critical of the more modern contemporary art tendencies, such as expressionism, fauvism and cubism.

Beckmann still follows German impressionism, reflecting the influence of Max Liebermann, in particular in his somber tonalities, but without his brushwork, or the brilliance of Lovis Corinth.

[2] The painting was bequested by Morton D. May to the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1983.