Portrait of Jane Brakhage Wodening (1958)

Oil on canvas

This was painted during a two week stay with Stan and Jane Brakhage in their Vermont home.  Schneemann stated that being the subject of such an intimate portrait caused Jane Brakhage so much stress and anxiety that, when the work was completed, Schneemann took it away with her when she left the couple.  However, they kept the portrait of Stan Brakhage to hang in their home.
This work displays Schneemann’s early tendencies towards abstract expressionism and also her fascination with the nude female form depicted in a non-traditional way.