Woman Reading a Letter is a far cry from the staid and sentimental portraits of children that Adeline executed with technical ease. The daring atmosphere of this work, illuminated by shaded candlelight, has many historic precedents, dating back to the works of Caravaggio and George de la Tour and the British artist Joseph Wright of Derby, famous for his candlelit subjects, as well as lamplit scenes like Edgar Degas' Interior. Adeline's daring use of blue flesh tones conveys a chilly interior and associations with death, at odds with the portrayal of beauty. Erotic and mysterious, the faded flowers on the table suggest some disappointment in the missive she is reading, perhaps the aftershock of some disturbing event. Adeline clearly realized that this work was a breakthrough for her: the painting won the National Arts Club Prize of $100 in 1912, and it appeared at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the City Art Museum... [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/9aa/9aa665.htm]