Deutsch is best known for his paintings of his wife, Riva (Rebecca Segal), whom he had married in 1924. Over the course of several decades he portrayed her in numerous paintings, usually as a thoughtful, attractive young woman with dark hair and large eyes. In these somewhat idealized portraits she became for him a timeless motif. Riva exemplifies Deutsch’s modernist painting style. With soft, blunted strokes the figure is presented in terms of light and dark planes, the facial features delicately described with lines. The subdued palette of dark blue for the dress and blues and whites for the background, typical of the artist’s early work, harmonizes with the reflective nature of the portrait.