Is this still a studio scene? By depicting American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) with his young model on a bed, Zorn created something more like an intimate boudoir picture. Saint- Gaudens is known to have had an affair with this woman and used her in multiple commissions. Zorn contrasts the older artist with the model’s youth and energy. Similar to Zorn’s own Self-Portrait with Model II, this portrait explores the charged relationship between male artist and female model.

Source: Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America, special exhibition on view in the museum's Hostetter Gallery, February 28 – May, 2013.

Oliver Tostmann, Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America, Paul Holberton Publishing, London, 2013, pp. 136 -137, cat. 19.