The simplification of human figures into a decorative pattern as in this work showing a mother and child, typified Bettie’s work of the mid-1950s. The process of pictorial simplification is strengthened by the use of dark contour lines and interlocking planes. Flat colour planes are articulated in such a manner that the picture surface becomes a decorative abstracted representation. In a way this approach reminds one of the simplified still-life works of Georges Braque.