As a young man in 1901, Gerald Kelly was sent to France to study painting by his father, the Vicar of Camberwell. The portraits he painted during his first few years in Paris have come to mark the beginning of his lifelong passion for art, and represent some of his most compelling and sensitive images. In a television interview in 1956, Gerald Kelly openly described his experiences as a twenty-two year old:

When I got to Paris, something went bang inside me, and I, who had never gone to lectures or ever worked, had been utterly lazy, started to paint. I painted as long as the light lasted and, by and large, I have done that ever since.

Paris at the beginning of the century was still the Paris of the Impressionists where Kelly was introduced to the influential art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. Kelly was overwhelmed by the wealth of paintings at both Ruel's home and gallery, although his admiration for French painting never triumphed over his love for the works of Velazquez. Paul Durand-Ruel took the young artist to see Claude Monet at Giverny and introduced him to Rodin, whose advice and kindness he came to value greatly. When Rodin succeeded Whistler as President of the International Society in 1903, it was the young Gerald Kelly whom he asked to accompany him to London to take up the appointment.

Mlle Sybil Mengens was one of the many models who agreed to sit for the young artist in his large studio in Montparnasse overlooking the Rue Capagne-Premiere. These early portraits are infused with the spirits of Whistler and Manet in their simple tonality and quiet strength of composition. This painting is one of several portraits of the sitter done at the time. Her contemplative expression recalls the spiritualism of the Spanish Masters, particularly the works of Velazquez.

Kenneth Clark described Gerald Kelly as the most reliable portrait painter of his time and Clive Bell thought him about the best President of the Royal Academy since Sir Joshua Reynolds.