The title of this painting is something of a mystery – the label on the painting says 'The Skyscaper' but, according to the Gallery catalogues, it is called 'The Skyscraper'. It is not exactly a portrait. The sitter is George Bridgeman, who was apparently an affable layabout; he worked as a model for Philpot from 1919 onwards. The young man’s earnest, slightly overawed gaze makes us wonder exactly what it is he is looking at.

Glyn Philpot achieved considerable success in his twenties and thirties as a painter of grand, traditional society portraits. The financial security that this brought gave him the freedom to pursue his interests, painting mythological and imaginative subjects, and, in the 1930s, adopting a more experimental, modernist style.