When Helene Schjerfbeck spends her final days at the Grand Hotel in Saltsjöbaden outside Stockholm, she can look back on a life permeated by a longing and dedication to painting. Throughout her life, it was her driving force, and thanks to her encounter with the Finnish-Swedish art dealer Gösta Stenman, she was able to focus on her artistry while he helped her make a living from it. He also contributed to spreading and promoting her art, ensuring that she must still be regarded as one of our foremost Nordic artists today. She is counted among Finland's most significant modernists, having developed a wholly unique modern expression by gradually stripping away all excess in her paintings. Just recently, she was once again highlighted and celebrated in a major exhibition at the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

When Gösta Stenman first discovered Schjerfbeck in the 1910s, she was relatively unknown, living in isolation and having long been outside the public art scene. Stenman saw in her a unique artist with exceptional modernist potential and quickly became her most important promoter. The relationship between Helene Schjerfbeck and the art dealer Gösta Stenman is one of the most significant artist-dealer collaborations in Nordic art history – professional, complex, and deeply marked by mutual dependence. Stenman took an active role in her support by purchasing and commissioning works, organising exhibitions in Helsinki, Stockholm, and internationally, as well as introducing her to a new collector audience. He was also the one who persuaded her to begin working in printmaking. Over time, he became her primary financial supporter, and their collaboration evolved into an almost exclusive working relationship that shaped the final phase of Schjerfbeck's long career.

With Stenman's assistance, Schjerfbeck was evacuated during World War II to the small town of Loviisa in 1941. The following year, she moved to Sweden. As always, Schjerfbeck sought her models in the local area, often choosing individuals with intriguing and characterful features. The darkness of the war weighed heavily on every person's consciousness and mind at that time. The auction's "Girl in Profile, Curls," a title given to the image by Stenman, who catalogued and preserved all material from his protégé, depicts a young dark-haired woman in profile. The painting was assigned the number 6052, which was clearly noted in Stenman's records from his gallery on Storgatan in Stockholm, as well as on the painting's stretcher – a few numbers that were always circled. The captivating oil painting at the auction showcases Schjerfbeck's late and mature, distinctly personal modernism. The bold brushstrokes have been deliberately placed, allowing the canvas to shine through in parts. The deep red mouth becomes an accent.

Helene Schjerfbeck passed away on January 23, 1946, and the following year, Gösta Stenman died. His wife, Bertha Stenman, continued to run Stenman's art gallery and kept exhibiting Schjerfbeck's works in Stockholm and internationally.