Oil, crayon and collage on board. In this layered, textured work, parts of what appears to be a woman’s face – in particular eyes and a nose and chin in profile – are interwoven in a complex pattern. This painting shows how Eileen Agar’s style was influenced by Surrealism, particularly in its attempt to express the unconscious mind through the juxtaposition of unrelated and often fantastical items. The critic Herbert Read, in his preface to Agar’s exhibition in 1964, talks of how she manages to dislocate charm, by fragmenting it and depriving it of its sentimentality. Furthermore, he comments how her fluid images are â€symbols, not so much of a vast unknown but intimate emotional experiences’. In spite of this fluidity, this is a crisp, well-ordered composition. The geometric forms in the background give the image clarity and the artist’s love of blue creates a cool feeling. Agar said about her work â€I like painting to be as clean as a tennis court.’