Frank Auerbach (born 1931) is best known as a painter and draughtsman, whose expressionistic, almost abstract works are full of energy. He confines himself to a very limited range of subjects, one of which is portraits of close friends and family. He believes that knowing a sitter outside and beyond the moment of sitting gives an artist a huge advantage, one that informs the way he constructs the portrait. The painter R. B. Kitaj (born 1932) and Auerbach had known, liked and respected each other for many years before this portrait was made; this pose and the way it is drawn indicates both the introspective and dynamically energetic aspects of Kitaj's personality.