The Artist Returned from Italy

This self portrait was painted during the artist's presidency of the Royal Watercolour Society, and captures the essence of his own 'Grand Tour' to Italy in the 1970s. The counterpane worn by the artist borrows from the robe in Tischbein's 'Goethe in the Roman Campagna' (1786), and the artist also includes books on other artists that were influential on his practice at the time. The watercolour compliments a larger collection of works by Maurice Sheppard already in the library's collection.