Balthus painted landscapes, portraits, and interiors, but the female sitter in various states—daydreaming, reclining, or sleeping, often nude or partly clothed, and typically charged with erotic content—is the subject most frequently in his oeuvre. Nude Before a Mirror is striking for the sculptural monumentality of the model, who seems to be carved from marble, and the soft silvery light that bathes the figure and fills the room.

One of the most powerful self-portraits ever created by a Chinese artist, this painting was probably executed during the final two years of Ren Xiong's brief life, after he had returned to his native town of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang. The relatively naturalistic modeling of the face and upper body contrasts dramatically with the powerful linear rendering of the garments, as though to juxtapose the artist's contemporary reality with the antique traditions to which Chinese painting might pay homage. Ren Xiong's long inscription on this defiant image describes his feelings of disillusionment and frustration, but the source of his generalized discontent is left unspecified.

 十月下旬的一天，进来一位中国老人，注意什幺忽略什幺，一看就是内行。旁边有人碰碰我，低声说，这个人就是周方，前大都会博物馆亚洲艺术部主任，赫赫有名。他看得很细，完了过来握手，说都是好东西，问怎幺进来的。我们说了诗人之女帮助联系的经过。他摇头，问合约怎幺签的。我说不知道，是诗人之女代签的。他又摇头，说他看《画廊指南》，今年十月份日本画廊展出的是李庚，怎幺会是你们？我说不知道，什幺是《画廊指南》？他说回头我寄一本给你，你得弄清楚是怎幺一回事。没有本人签字，哪里来的合约？没有宣传造势，画怎幺卖得出去？画卖不出去，花的钱怎幺回来？