Double Portrait No. 2 is an oil painting of the artist's friends Katharine Church and Anthony West. It was painted after Hodgkins had been staying at their home - Quarry Farm. Hodgkins said about her stay, 'I . . . the happiest long week end with the Wests & have painted 3 quite attractive canvases inspired by objects observed by me out of the corner of my subjective eye, when really looking for black berries'.

Although dated 1937, this painting may have been completed after that date, a common practice in Hodgkins' later work. Katharine Church remembers Frances Hodgkins working on the double portrait in 1939 from an existing watercolour of herself and a pencil drawing of Anthony.

This portrait was painted during the latter part of Hodgkins' career, at a time when her style was becoming increasingly abstract. Hodgkins' earlier oils had been characterised by the use of thick paint and restrained composition. However, this painting shows that the artist had changed to a softer, more fluid style, with a looser and thinner use of oil paint.

Calligraphic brush marks and traces of colour applied in fleeting patches characterise the painting. The bold use of red on the Wests' clothing, and in the details on their faces and hair, effectively highlights them against the neutral colours of the background.