Portrait of a Prisoner

In 1959, her political activism led to the imprisonment of Egyptian artist Inji Efflatoun. During her more than four-year stint inside, she encountered robbers, drug traffickers, and other criminals on a regular basis. In prison, Efflatoun continued to make art. She created portraits of several of her inmates, mostly women, as seen in The Portrait of a Prisoner. The artwork exemplifies Efflatoun's ability to convey intense emotions that a person may feel when incarcerated. She rendered the prison scene using dark hues and heavy brushstrokes. Efflatoun used the woman's sky-blue veil and the striped galabiyya, a loose-fitting traditional dress, to contrast this setting. The woman's stern countenance conveys the severity of her circumstances. She looks away, as though lost in meditation. Even though Efflatoun didn't paint many pictures of prisoners, she was able to convey the human experience of imprisonment and the struggle for release.