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"Self-Portrait with Lily" belongs to the first works of Lajos Vajda's so-called icon period. Layers of traditions and cultures are clearly visible in it, on which Vajda built his peculiarly new message and form. The picture clearly indicates the influence of the Eastern Orthodox Church but the artist applies Eastern and Western avantgarde art in search of artistic tools and Hungarian folk art in a stylized form to define form and structures of dots and lines. The devotion and innocence of the artist are symbolized by the form of the icon, eyes looking slightly upwards, and lily leaves. Rhythmical lines and subdued colours recall art nouveau, and leaves growing out of nothing remind the spectator of the atmosphere of "Woman Sitting by the Window" where plants give a symbolic meaning to the face. Colours of the pastel picture evolve out of shades of yellow and black. The white of the eyes and the clothes make the somewhat faded but elegant composition dynamic. Future appears together with the colours of fading, and its definite linear system contrasts the mystic contours of nature symbolized by the plant.
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