Modernism was a movement which sought to break the ties with the traditional past and portray a modern, industrialized, urban society that was becoming more politicised and characterised by change rather than by tradition.

The movement towards abstraction allowed no place for sentimentality or narrative. Many British Modernists nevertheless attempted to include some traditional elements into their works.

Mark Gertler's 'Bokhara Coat'is a recognisable study of a model but it clearly incorporates modernist elements such as the skewed and flattened perspective of the picture, in which the viewer is looking down on the woman, and the geometrically shaped cushions