Like most artists, Adams created works both for sale and for himself. This portrait hung in his home until his death. Not a quick nor a formalist sketch, Juanita speaks to a sensitive connection and in-depth study of the sitter. As with many Adams portraits of seated figures such as Muchacho (ca. 1930), Portrait of Hilda (1934), and Evening (ca. 1940), the sitter appears in a posture of resignation. Her possibly sunburned face and arms add to the apparent discomfort in posing that this little girl displays.