This early work by Chris Gollon was painted in 1993, after a night out in London's Soho, where he had glimpsed a woman in a doorway, whose face and regard haunted his imagination. He added the mysterious staircase for effect, but the momentary scene made him think of the doorway in Hermann Hesse's novel 'Steppenwolf', above which was written 'Magic Theatre, Not For Everybody'.

It is a very haunting painting indeed, shown in Gollon's first solo museum exhibition at the Ferens Gallery in Hull in 1993. A BBC TV Look North clip about the exhibition is shown in the new feature-length documentary 'CHRIS GOLLON: Life in Paint', which has its World Premiere at the Barbican on 29th October 2024, as part of the Doc 'N Roll Festival.

Having been in a private collection, it is now returned to the Chris Gollon Estate.