Self-Portrait

Agda Holst studied in Munich and Paris. Her paintings are characterized by a sober color definition and stringent form resistance. Agda Holst cool temperament fit well in the 1920's style of the "new objectivity". The motives are most often cubist inspired still lifes, portraits, figure studies and landscapes.
Holst painted, in the 1920s, several deeply personal portraits of family and friends and also made some of the most refined self-portraits in Swedish art history. For it is in the observation of the human that she is brilliant. The portraits owns an irresistible combination of closeness and distance.
Agda Holst was interested in fashion. The jersey dress she is wearing in the self-portrait was of the latest fashion. However, she did not cut her hair in the short hairstyle that was popular but keeped her hair in a knot at the neck.