Her painting for The Yellow Book, appropriately titled “The Yellow Book”, fits with the overall playfulness of much of the Quarterly’s work and contributors. The self-referential nature of the image, as suggested by the title, supposes a satirical aspect to the work. In the aesthetic domestic setting, represented by the décor of Japanese fans (Kooistra & Denisoff 2), the man is holding out the Yellow Book to the modest woman whose posture is facing away from him but she is looking down slyly at the book and blushing.

Since The Yellow Book held some status amongst its upper middle class readership, its avant-garde nature was acceptable and therefore so was some of its more progressive content. As Linda Hughes argues in her article “Women Poets and Contested Spaces in The Yellow Book”, not only was this Quarterly great for female contributors to share their more edgy pieces but it was also tailored to female readership as much as it was for men (15).  Hammond’s image seems to be securing this thought, promoting to women that this is a book for them too. Perhaps this is why the man in the image is showing her the book, to prove that even men think women should read it, and although she looks timid about it, her blushing exposes that something in it appeals to her. The Yellow Book and its female contributors, who are writing and creating images of Decadence, sexuality, and New Women narratives, are encouraging the female readership to become more independent and active in their society.