While living in Harbin, Manchuria in Northeastern China, Slobodkina studied with the Impressionist painter Pavel Goost. She drew “Portrait of a Lady” during this time. Slobodkina took lessons with Goost in order to pass the art entrance examinations at the Ilnd Realnoye Oochilische, a junior school high school that emphasized math and art (Tufts University Art Gallery, The Life and Art of Esphyr Slobodkina, 1992, p.8). This piece reflects Slobodkina’s early habit of copying pictures from fashion magazines (Notes from a Biographer, Volume I, p.156).