The story of these two paintings require them to be presented side by side. While neither is dated, we know, due to the circumstances, that the painting on the right, titled, Portrait of a Young Woman, is newer than the one on the left. The right painting is a drastic departure for Ashford in that he does not include his signature mottled background. In fact, it’s a very rare example, based on what we have remaining of his works. The Young Woman portrait is in the permanent art collection at the Dacotah Prairie Museum in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The painting was sent to be restored in 2013, and after removing the canvas, the conservators revealed the painting on the left underneath. Of course the revealed painting was in excellent condition as it had been covered for years. The Museum named the “new” painting, Girl with the Coral Necklace. While Ashford did paint from photographs sometimes, it appears both fashion-wise and style-wise these paintings are years apart. Of course we do not know who the women are. And why did he cover up such a stunning painting? Maybe, the painting on the left is Marjorie, his wife? The couple was divorced by 1929. No one knows the true story.