Abandoned Doll is one of two paired portraits of Marie Cola, with her daughter Gilberte, niece of the artist.

This painting is an example of Valadon's mature art: brightly colored forms with dark contours, strange and somewhat uncomfortable poses, simplified and distorted anatomy.

Similar features can be found in the work of Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse, but Valadon denied their influence and avoided any attempt to classify her own style.

It remains unclear whether the woman is the girl's mother helping her overcome the problems of transitional age, or whether she is the mistress of a brothel preparing a young prostitute for defloration.

The viewer can only guess what fate awaits this young girl, absorbed in looking at herself and not knowing all the intrigues that the adult world is preparing for her.