Mabel Nicholson died in 1918 aged forty-seven, a victim of the Spanish influenza epidemic. Her paintings are mostly in Scottish collections but this portrait (c1910-14) of her son, Ben, who was by this time already studying at the Slade, is in the NPG. Mabel's skill in emulating Manet, who, in turn, was inspired by Velázquez to use a dark background and dramatic lighting, shows what a great loss her early death was to painting.