Azalea (Portrait of Helen Abbe Howson)

The title "Azalea" may refer to the flowers Helen Howson contemplates, or to her own delicate beauty or character. John White Alexander painted many moody, ethereal works such as this featuring women who look away from the viewer. Contemporary scholars have pointed out that the subject of a passive, withdrawn woman may signify a reaction against the growing activism of women in their battle for suffrage and other forms of equality.