Untitled

A head and shoulders in pastel, the face turned three-quarters and the eyes lowered, built from violet, plum and deep brown against a flat mauve ground. A thin gold chain is drawn at the throat. The handling is close and unhurried — this is a portrait made from sitting with someone.

Ian Bent works in contemporary realism; the gallery's note records a major mural of his at Monash University. Signed lower right.