Grape Packer is an important example of Stern’s mature works from the 1950s and early 60s, and her increasing focus on labourers as subjects. The youthful woman’s gaze is averted from the viewer, as is usual in Stern’s portraiture and figurative painting, but the infant looks directly out. Stern rarely painted children; after her divorce in 1934, she remained unmarried for the rest of her life and never had children of her own. Her looks and weight were often derided in the press. It is possible that at this stage in her life, as she turned 60 and her health began to fail, she was particularly drawn to such timeless figures of youth and fertility.